The topic of agriculture is a broad one that encompasses numerous subtopics when it comes to giving a speech. Your choice of topic depends on the crowd to which you are giving the speech and whether or not you are persuading your audience to accept a particular viewpoint. No matter what the subject of your speech, it is important that you understand the field of agriculture as a whole and incorporate pertinent facts and figures into your speech to back up your point of view.

Food Safety

A speech on food safety is a relevant topic to anyone listening to your speech because everyone has to eat to live. Not only can you discuss traditional methods of food safety, but also innovative ways in which the agriculture industry ensures the safety of food products cultivated on farms. Incorporate current events into your speech to pack more of a punch, since outbreaks of contaminated food in the last century have caused serious illnesses in those that consumed these products.

Agriculture and Climate Change

It seems as though everyone talks about the effects of climate change on weather, but your speech might focus on how that weather in turn affects the agricultural industry. You could discuss recent natural disasters that had a widespread negative impact on the U.S. agricultural industry and how many of those weather events can be traced back to changes in the climate.

Treatment of Livestock

A hot-button topic is the treatment of animals at farms that breed for food. This might be focused on the treatment of dairy cows or the process of euthanizing chickens at farms that sell chicken for human consumption. You can take a stance either way -- that these animals are or are not treated humanely and then back up your stance with hard facts. Keep in mind, however, that this is a more controversial speech topic.

Pesticide Use in Agriculture

Pesticides are used to keep pests away from farms and their products; however, these harmful chemicals also become part of the food supply. You can give a speech on the effects of pesticides in terms of consumption, how these chemicals affect crops as they grow and alternatives to traditional brands of pesticides.