CHEVY CHASE, Md. and CHICAGO, June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and National 4-H Council are partnering for the second year to bring the Commodity Carnival, an interactive fair experience, to 120 state and county fairs in 11 states this summer. Building on its success last year educating more than 54,000 youth on agriculture commodities, the Commodity Carnival now will be available beyond the fairgrounds.  New this year, families across the nation will be able to access the Commodity Carnival game online and as a new downloadable app from their mobile devices.

Last year, CME Group and 4-H partnered with the goal of increasing public understanding of agriculture commodities and the role futures play in today's world. New this year, "Risk Ranch," the interactive learning activity at the Commodity Carnival, will specifically highlight what it takes to bring steer to market.

"4-H is the largest youth development organization in the nation and this partnership with CME Group has enabled us to extend our impact and provide valuable education through an extremely innovative Commodity Carnival game," said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO, National 4-H Council. "This activity is especially effective because we prepare young people as peer leaders to engage and teach other young people.  As a result, we are increasing agriculture literacy among people who may not understand the importance of the industry as well as improving financial literacy in the agricultural community, particularly for the farmers of tomorrow."

"We're pleased to be back for our second year of this program because, although we serve customers in more than 150 countries, our roots have always been in the heart of this country with farm and ranch families," said CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy. "Of the many educational programs we offer, this partnership with National 4-H is one of my favorites, because it gives us the unique opportunity to interact with the next generation of our nation's food producers in their own communities."

The Commodity Carnival, developed in 2013 by the Ohio State University Extension, will again travel to 11 states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wisconsin.The partnership between CME Group and National 4-H is a part of CME Group's ongoing educational efforts around markets and risk management. In addition to the Commodity Carnival, CME Group launched FuturesFundamentals.com this year, an innovative website that explains the role of derivatives in everyday life. The site takes investing concepts like futures, hedging and speculating and shows how they impact the world around us. Also this year, CME Group completed its 11th annual CME Group Trading Challenge, a hands-on experience that gathered 389 teams of students from 31 countries to compete in a simulated trading competition.

To see Risk Ranch in action, go to www.cmegroup.com/4Hcarnival.  Fairgoers also can go to www.cmegroup.com/4Hcarnival to find participating fairs that will be hosting the Commodity Carnival this summer and fall and to find out how to share their fair experiences online with 4-H fans and members, as well as fair enthusiasts across the country.

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 commodities, metals, weather and real estate.  CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex^® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago.  CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  KCBOT, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

About 4-H
4-H is a community of seven million young people around the world learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of the Cooperative Extension System and 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the United States, 4-H programs are implemented by the 109 land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension through more than 3,000 local offices serving every county and parish in the country. Outside the United States, 4-H programs operate through independent, country-led organizations in more than 50 countries.

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

CME-G

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140123/AQ51408LOGO

SOURCE CME Group