The assurance you need

to focus on farming.

If you’re in the agricultural business,
you have a lot to think about.

Between weather, soil health, water availability, food safety, product quality, budgets, and regulations, your valuable time can be stretched thin. No matter the farm’s crop or size, regulated industries can be complex and confusing. That’s where M2-Ag Assurance can assist.
Co-founders and partners Carman McKinney and Amy Matthews specialize in helping clients meet regulatory compliance. Their team develops, custom on-farm food safety readiness plans (including HACCP based risk assessments and policies to meet third-party certification requirements), as well as providing intellectual property management services.

M2-Ag Assurance exists to guide our clients through regulated industries so they can focus on what they do best: FARMING.

OUR SERVICES

M2-Ag Assurance has you covered:
from food safety to intellectual property.

FOOD SAFETY

Risk Assessments
—
Food Safety Plans
—
Traceability
—
GFSI Certifications

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE

Local, State, and Federal Regulatory Compliance
—
Internal Auditing
—
Corporate Policies & Procedures

PRODUCT REGISTRATIONS

Local Departments of Agriculture
—
Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Trademark and Copyright Registration
—
Guidance on Trademark Usage, Licensing, Management, and New Plant Variety Protection

The M2-Ag Assurance Story

We saw the need to assist
at the farm level.

Carman McKinney and Amy Matthews first met 20 years ago while Carman was employed with a global hop merchant, and Amy was employed with said hop merchant’s intellectual property counsel. With communications between the two limited to the telephone and computer, Carman and Amy worked together for over 12 years before finally meeting face to face. Having moved on from their previous employers, they ironically, ended up sharing a tiny office while employed by a very large hop producer, in a very small town. That tiny shared office space was the catalyst that ignited both a friendship, and ultimately the beginning of the – McKinney – Matthews partnership. Both recognized the need to assure value added programs such as GlobalG.A.P. or intellectual property rights were attainable for farms of all sizes. Now, a day at the office typically takes place in a tiny establishment, that serves good food and drink.
Hops

MEET THE TEAM

M2-Ag Assurance, Your Partner in Navigating Regulated Industries, Carman McKinney, Amy Matthews, Central Washington, Agriculture, Farming, Business, Management, Food Safety, Intellectual Property, Product Registrations, Corporate Compliance

Carman McKinney

Carman manages M2’s food safety and regulatory compliance activities, ranging from organic product registration to third-party food safety certification. Raised in the heart of the Yakima Valley in Washington State, Carman has invested over 30 years in the Ag industry. The majority of that time dedicated to the hop industry including, managing corporate governance of all third-party food safety and environmental programs, human safety and education, organic producer/processor programs, and sustainability life cycle assessments.

Her career began working in the juice industry in the Lower Yakima Valley, where she developed a strong interest in quality control. With early plans to move out of her small town of Grandview, WA, she decided that there was value in sticking around home to further her experience in Agriculture. In the early 1990s came great pressure from the EPA and DOE to regulate industrial wastewater discharged to the Yakima River. She took a proactive stance and began developing relationships with regulatory agencies, which led to successful partnerships, solutions, and ultimately compliance.

Alongside the Hop Growers of America and the International Hop Convention, she developed and implemented the GlobalGAP Hop Sub-scope – the first GFSI scheme to carry an integrated farm assurance standard for hops. Carman was also instrumental in the development of the Hop Growers of America Best Practice Committee and their “Good Bines” on-farm food safety self-assessment program.

M2-Ag Assurance, Your Partner in Navigating Regulated Industries, Carman McKinney, Amy Matthews, Central Washington, Agriculture, Farming, Business, Management, Food Safety, Intellectual Property, Product Registrations, Corporate Compliance

Amy Matthews

Amy oversees M2’s Intellectual Property (IP) Management Services. Growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, Amy never imagined that she would work in agriculture or IP law for that matter. While pursuing a Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Amy was employed with a boutique IP law firm in Yakima, Washington. The firm specialized in plant variety protection, with clientele across a wide variety of industries. Although Amy fully intended to pursue employment related to her schooling, IP law provided a unique opportunity to integrate her science-based education with employment filled with fascinating inventiveness and entrepreneurs.

For 15 years, Amy has worked in IP management with expertise in the development and launch of new plant varieties. Her most recent employment has been in the hop industry with a hop breeding and development company, in the Yakima Valley. Beyond hops, Amy’s experience with propriety plant variety management includes apples and blueberries. Amy specializes in managing the interdepartmental activities between the marketing, legal, sales, and production departments to maximize efficiencies, with assurance that IP protections are secured.

Amy continues to keep her foot in the natural resource world as a Board Member of Cowiche Canyon Conservancy, a land conservancy dedicated to protecting local shrub-steppe habitat.

Do you need assistance navigating regulated industries?

M2-Ag Assurance is here to help.

CONTACT US TODAY

Carman McKinney

(509) 305-8200

carman@m2-agassurance.com

Amy Matthews

(509) 930-4204

amy@m2-agassurance.com

TESTIMONIALS

  • Amy had a tremendous impact at Fall Creek. She developed better processes for coordinating new products, and left our company in a better place than when she arrived.

    Amelie Aust — Co-CEO Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc.

  • Hop Growers of America’s work with Carman McKinney resulted in the development of a tremendous suite of food safety and best practices resources for the US hop industry, including an exciting new “Good Bines” education and self-certification platform. She was also instrumental in the hop industry’s efforts to seek reclassification of hops as “rarely consumed raw” under FDA’s Produce Safety Rules.

    Ann George — Executive Director Hop Growers of America

  • Working with M2-Ag Assurance was an absolute pleasure. From conception to receiving our OMRI certifications, M2-Ag was diligent, organized, and proactive. Navigating through organic certifications can be daunting and overwhelming for a company. Working with M2-Ag Assurance made this whole process easy and painless.

    Alex Eakin, Owner — Tumalo Co.