Changes in the environment, including nutritional changes, can influence fetal and postnatal development of the offspring, which can result in differences in growth, metabolism, reproduction, and health later in life. In beef cattle research on energy and protein restriction during late gestation appears to be contradictory. Therefore, in this review, we will examine the nutrient requirements recommended for this period. We are summarizing contradictory data on effects on offspring performance with possible explanations of the reason for why the data seems contradictory. We will finish by discussing some areas that we consider important for further research to increase the knowledge on how maternal nutrition influences offspring development. In particular, suggestions are provided on the need for more accurately measuring nutrient and energy supply and use and the impact on subsequent epigenetic effects. This will improve understanding of nutritional effects during gestation on offspring performance.

Our objective was to conduct a systematic literature review and collate data to run a meta-regression on the effect of protein and energy restriction during the last third of gestation on offspring growth and carcass characteristics. The literature search was restricted to only using data from the last third of gestation in spring calving herds such that the last trimester coincided with winter months. Additionally, the search was limited to Bos taurus beef cattle and peer reviewed research articles; review articles and proceeding abstracts/papers were excluded. The search was conducted using the Web of Science. During this process we found contradictory results. As an example, some manuscripts indicate that energy and/or protein restriction during late gestation has a negative impact on offspring growth and/or carcass characteristics; however, there are also manuscripts that report no differences in similar growth and carcass variables (Table 1). Also, most of the studies reported no differences with maternal restriction on offspring body weight at calving and at weaning. One of the limitations in the data set is that most articles did not measure or report dry matter, net energy, or crude protein intake on the dam; therefore, making it difficult to predict the severity of maternal nutrient restriction and the effects on the offspring. Because of this gap in the literature, we suggest that net energy and crude protein intake should be reported in future studies to better determine the effects of maternal restriction during late gestation on offspring growth and carcass characteristics.