Four families – the Dunphys from Sligo; the Whytes from Dublin; the Murphys from Cork and the Hamiltons from Down – all spoke in front of the 650 delegates at the conference, which is taking place in Trim, Co Meath.

Con Murphy, who operates a dairy farm in Dirreen, Co Cork, with his wife Mary and son Donncha, earned a standing ovation when he bravely and candidly spoke about his battle with depression.

“I was very depressed and couldn’t shake it off,” he said. “A man will never give up fighting it. He thinks he can do it on his own because he knows it all. But if you listen to the people around you, you will get through it.”

The conference also heard from Ulster winner Tracy Hamilton of Mash Direct, who spoke about how her family added value to their product and now employ 140 people.

“There’s nothing we won’t do together as a family,” she said. “We got out of our comfort zone and now we are supplying Mash Direct to shops in Ireland, the UK and Dubai.”

The Whyte family, who topped the Leinster category, proved the strength of family farming with seven brothers and their sons running their tillage farm in Dublin. Connacht winners Joseph and Helen Dunphy also highlighted the importance of a strong family unit.

“There’s no easy way to make a bright future, but we’ll try our hardest to make it as bright as we can,” said Helen.

The overall winner of the UN Year of Family Farming awards will be announced in December.

Chef Clodagh McKenna, fitness expert Karl Henry and MEP Marian Harkin are set to take to the stage later this afternoon.

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