Developmental programming and beef production

The major economic costs to beef producers are associated with the breeding herd, with weaning rate and maternal efficiency being the major drivers of profitability of beef production systems. There is increasing interest in developed and developing countries in how to manage breeding females and their offspring to either minimize the consequences of adverse environmental effects or to enhance productivity and efficiency of offspring. Cattle severely growth restricted early in life can have reduced body weight for age to market weight, but with only slight or no alteration to normal allometric growth patterns of carcass tissues or beef quality, at least within pasture-based systems. There is little information and a need for further research in beef cattle to quantify developmental programming-related effects, particularly on reproductive success and lactation performance, interactions with the environment, and intergenerational consequences.