In Denmark we celebrate Christmas on 24 December in the evening. We get together as a family around the dinner table, but before that we make sure that all creatures on the farm know that it is Christmas.

Some winters we enjoy a snow-covered landscape, but this year it is wet and muddy.

The day before Christmas, on 23 December, we start to ensure that the machinery is well stowed, and no tools nor equipment are left outside for Saint Jacob to rest against.

Our 70 heads of Herefords are spread across three barns. Each barn will be filled with fresh straw for the cattle to feel warm and dry in.

Some winters we enjoy a snow-covered landscape, but this year it is wet and muddy – around 5 degrees during the day and close to 0 at night.

We are fully prepared for frosty winters with anti-freeze water troughs.

Due to the fact that our cattle spend 365 days a year outside in the field with access to cover, the wet environment causes challenges.

We are fully prepared for frosty winters with anti-freeze water troughs and large barrels containing vitamins.

We start calving in late December, and some years we are blessed with a Christmas calf, which makes Christmas at our farm extra magical.

Josephine Mortensen with her dog during summer months in Denmark.

After the Christmas dinner we enjoy a walk to the old barn. An old legend tells that you are able to understand the animals' language around Christmas Eve – who would want to miss that?

While listening to the cattle we feed them extra silage, to make sure that they know that it is Christmas.

During the holidays we spend time picking out prospects for next year’s cattle shows, and sometimes we even give them their very first walk.

This is generally a time we enjoy with both family, friends and farm work. We wish all our Hereford friends world-wide a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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