County fair teaches risk management with interactive game
Young Black Hawk County Fair-goers are receiving an early lesson in realizing what it takes to produce and bring animals to market at this year’s Commodity Carnival booth.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group and the National 4-H Council have partnered for the second year in order to educate young people about agricultural science and economics.
“U.S. farmers and ranchers are getting older and there are fewer people standing in line to take their place,” a 2012 article in Iowa Farmer Today, a Lee Enterprises sister publication of The Courier, reported.
Advancements in technology have spurred more diverse career paths in agriculture for future generations, but the average age of farmers has climbed up to the late 50s, according to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture.
The Commodity Carnival is aiming to reach out to younger generations. Last year, the interactive game educated more than 54,000 youths at 120 state and county fairs in 11 states last year.
Chris Grams, director of corporate communications at CME group, said the carnival is all about experiencing what it’s like to run a farm and the work that goes into raising animals.
“We really want (the kids) to gain an understanding that farming is a business and that farmers and ranchers do face risk in bringing food to the market,” Grams said.
The game is composed of three main steps: grow your livestock, sell your livestock and win a ribbon.
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