Technical Abstract: The Growth and Development Symposium titled “Understanding and mitigating the impacts of inflammation on animal growth and development” was held at the Joint Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science in New Orleans, LA, July 10 to 14, 2011. The goals of the symposium were to highlight advances in the study of the complex processes of inflammation as it relates to growth and development of agricultural species, and to identify potential targets amenable to mitigation and prevention of production losses due to chronic inflammation. Under normal physiological circumstances, inflammation serves to protect tissues from infection, irritation, or injury, which is critical to maintain homeostasis and support animal survival. However, sustained stimulation of the inflammatory response impairs normal growth and development, and limits productivity by preventing an animal from attaining its full genetic potential. For instance, direct interactions between pro-inflammatory molecules with myofibers, adipocytes, and mammary and intestinal epithelial cells recently have been described that result in modifications of their metabolic and anabolic functions. Modified anabolic responses of these cells can reduce production efficiency, leading to significant economic losses in animal production agriculture. A more thorough understanding of the complex interactions of the immune system with productive tissues can assist in the development of means to reduce and prevent these economic losses due to chronic inflammation. The symposium provided a general overview of inflammation and the effects of anti-inflammatory compounds on animal growth and health, followed by more specific discussions of the effects of inflammation on growth of beef cattle and carcass merit, intestinal function as it relates to growth in swine, production losses of dairy cattle during mastitis, and overall efficiency of nutrient use in production animals.