Andrew Fear

Andrew has been the General Manager of NZAEL (New Zealand Animal Evaluation Ltd), a subsidiary of DairyNZ, since 2022. His vision is to see New Zealand’s dairy industry back leading the world in rates of genetic gain.

“I have always been a believer in the importance of genetic gain,” says Andrew. “I want to help one of New Zealand’s largest industries to remain internationally competitive by increasing our rates of genetic gain. It is a reason to get out of bed in the morning, to be part of the solution for New Zealand.”

A key part of his job is supporting farmers and the wider industry with improving genetic gain; providing farmers with information, giving scientists an understanding of where their focus needs to lie, and utilising science to drive improvements on farm.

Andrew graduated with a Bachelor of Business Management Studies from Waikato University. He joined the dairy industry when he shifted back to Hamilton to raise his family, working at LIC for 17 years. He then moved on to grow two other businesses before joining NZAEL. His commercial background has given him a unique skillset that he can apply to his current role.

He is proud of his career achievements, which have included creating and supporting a strong team who are engaged, care about their work, and understand why it is important.