Future Farmers Learn Commodity Risks

farming-9
farming-9

As county fairs are held around Michigan this summer, young future farmers have been receiving a lesson in risk management through a program of the CME Group. The company has teamed up with 4H chapters across the country for the past six years to offer its Commodity Carnival at fairs. CME Group’s Tim Andriesen tells WSJM News the carnival allows young people to simulate raising hogs by having them take part in a game in which they raise small eggs that represent livestock and weigh the costs versus revenue. The lesson they hope to teach?

“The average producer is not just simply going out and raising animals or raising crops and ultimately making money,” Andriesen said. “There’s risk involved in that.”

The Commodities Carnival was featured at the fairs in both Berrien and Van Buren counties this summer.

“In Michigan, for example, this year we’re going to be at 35 fairs, including the state fair, and so I suspect that at 34 of those, you’re going to see local 4H members manning the game,” Andriesen said.

The Commodity Carnival’s current stop is the Michigan State Fair, which started August 30 in Novi. You can find out more about the commodity fair right here.