When it comes to managing the farm at Christmas time, I think of my dad as less of a Mourinho, more of an Eddie Howe.

Whilst the Manchester United manager keeps his players training on Christmas afternoon, we on the farm try to be as flexible as possible in giving staff time off to be with their family and friends during the festive season. 

That sometimes can be a tricky balancing act. Even on Christmas Day the cows do need to be milked and our animals need to be fed and given clean bedding as on every other day. It's a scaled-down operation, though, and there's no need to go over the top.

The animals have now all settled into their winter routine. Our milking cows are enjoying tucking into their grass and maize silage feed ration and are relaxing in their straw beds inside the barns. Our beef animals and young heifers are also being housed over the winter period as the grass is no longer productive nor is it nutritional. Only our younger animals are outside, grazing the stubble turnip fields. Thankfully the weather has been kind to them this year, and they seem very content to be roaming the farm.

Every winter a chap from Wales, whom we call The Welsh Shepherd, sends his weaned lambs onto  our farm in Dorset for a holiday. While it is still dry we have them nibbling down our meadows so that during next spring we will have a flush of new pasture for our cattle. If the weather turns wet we shall move them onto stubble turnips. I love seeing these woolly creatures on our farm and I think they are enjoying their stay with us.

In September we applied for a Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which is an EU program to encourage farmers to implement environmental features on their land but we are still waiting to hear if our application has been accepted. If it is, we will have to start getting things in place as the scheme will commence from 1st January. We have planned to grow beetle banks, nectar and pollen species rich plants, as well as plants to offer winter feed for birds. 

Fingers crossed all goes smoothly from now until the new year. I hope you all enjoy the festive season and have a wonderful Christmas.