Andy was raised on a small irrigated crop and livestock operation along the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico. In 1978, the family operation changed to raising registered Red Angus, from which Andy and his wife, Maddy, started their own herd of registered cattle in 1998. The couple continues to raise registered cattle with an emphasis on maternal traits. Andy received BS, MS and PhD degrees in Animal Science from New Mexico State University, University of Wyoming, and Washington State University, respectively. He served as the beef cattle Extension specialist at Washington State University for two years. In 1989, he accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in the Pharmacology Department in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine where he conducted basic research on mechanisms regulating follicular development, using cattle as the experimental model. In 1990, Andy was hired at the USDA ARS Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska to conduct research on beef cattle reproduction. In 2001 he moved to the USDA ARS Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Montana, where he conducted research for over 20 years evaluating nutrition and genetic effects on growth, reproduction, and economics during heifer development and cow lifetime productivity.