CHICAGO and CHEVY CHASE, Md., June 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and the National 4-H Council, the nation's largest youth development organization, have announced the sixth year of their partnership to bring the award-winning Commodity Carnival experience to state and county fairs this summer. The highly engaging experience will tour nearly 120 fairs across eight states, helping families learn the basics of risk management in agriculture. Commodity Carnival will also continue to be available beyond the fairgrounds through the mobile companion app, Risk Ranch.

"Agriculture has been a central part of CME Group's business for 170 years," said Tim Andriesen, CME Group Agricultural Products Managing Director. "We have a long history of investing in the next generation of food producers here in the U.S, including engaging 325,000 youth since the start of this partnership. We are pleased to provide this program again this year to educate our nation's future farmers and agribusiness leaders about the importance of risk management."

"We are committed to empowering young people with the skills to lead for a lifetime," said National 4-H Council President and CEO Jennifer Sirangelo. "We are proud of our long-standing and important partnership with CME Group as we collaborate to promote the Commodity Carnival and Risk Ranch. These key initiatives aid in developing crucial life skills like critical thinking, communication, and technical competence, building young leaders through positive youth development whose reach can extend beyond the agriculture industry."

Developed by the Ohio State University Extension, Commodity Carnival will travel to the following states during the 2018 fair season: Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. To find a list of participating fairs that will be hosting Commodity Carnival this summer and fall, visit www.cmegroup.com/4hcarnival.

CME Group and 4-H first partnered in 2013, motivated by the same goal of preparing future generations of farmers and food producers with respect to risk management in agriculture. In 2015, to reach mobile and tech-savvy young audiences, CME Group launched the first agriculture-based learning application, Risk Ranch, further helping young people understand agriculture as a complex and crucial element of our economy. The award-winning app is available year-round online, in the App Store, as well as through Google Play.

The partnership between CME Group and National 4-H is part of CME Group's ongoing commitment to educational efforts focused on financial markets and risk management. This also includes a partnership with Discovery Education in its Econ Essentials program, a free service for middle- and high-school classrooms that helps teachers and their students explore the important and ever-changing variables that affect our global economy, particularly in energy, agricultural, and financial markets. For university students, CME Group offers an annual CME Group Trading Challenge, a global competition that in 2018 drew in nearly 550 teams, made up of more than 2,100 students from 37 countries to compete in a simulated trading competition. CME Group also supports Futures Fundamentals, a one-stop educational resource that explains the role of futures markets in everyday life.

About CME Group

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. Around the world, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform. CME Group also operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME Clearing, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives. CME Group products and services ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk and achieve growth.

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and S&P are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, as the case may be, and have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About 4-H

4-H, the nation's largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. 4-H programs empower nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. 4-H is the youth development program of our nation's Cooperative Extension System and USDA, and serves every county and parish in the U.S. through a network of 110 public universities and more than 3000 local Extension offices. Globally, 4-H collaborates with independent programs to empower one million youth in 50 countries. The research-backed 4-H experience grows young people who are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices; two times more likely to be civically active; and two times more likely to participate in STEM programs.

Learn more about 4-H at www.4-h.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/4H.

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SOURCE CME Group