ESCANABA — CME Group and the National 4-H Council are hosting their seventh annual Commodity Carnival at the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba this week. The Commodity Carnival is an interactive, educational fair experience that teaches young fairgoers about managing the business risks and costs associated with producing and bringing livestock to market. Participants will play a game that involves growing and bringing a steer to market, which helps improve their literacy in agriculture science and basic economics, all while having fun.

The Commodity Carnival booth is at the Upper Peninsula State Fair through Aug. 15. Fairgoers can even bring home the fun by downloading the mobile companion game, Risk Ranch, to their phone.

“Agriculture has been a vital part of CME Group’s business for more than 170 years,” said Tim Andriesen, CME Group Managing Director of Agricultural Products. “Working with National 4-H Council, we’ve reached over 400,000 youth across the country with the Commodity Carnival experience in the last six years. We look forward to supporting the program again this year to educate the next generation of farmers, ranchers and business leaders about the role of risk management in production agriculture.”

“We are so pleased to continue our partnership with CME Group and help prepare today’s youth with skills they need to be successful in the future,” said National 4-H Council President and CEO Jennifer Sirangelo. “The focus and purpose of the Commodity Carnival is to bolster our collective efforts to increase agricultural literacy and highlight the important role of agriculture commodities. Students get to take part in an interactive, hands-on experience that allows them to learn-by-doing.”