Technical Abstract: A genome scan for chromosomal regions influencing birth weight was performed using 151 progeny from a single Hereford x composite bull and 170 microsatellite markers spanning 2.497 Morgans on 29 bovine autosomes. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) was identified at the telomeric end of bovine chromosome 2 (maximum effect at 114 cM) accounting for approximately 2.8 kg of birth weight or 0.64 residual standard deviations (after adjustment for sex of calf, age of dam, and breed of dam). Growth from birth to weaning was not significantly affected by any genes in this region. The presence of this QTL within a resource herd comprised of breeds common to the Northern Great Plains provides an opportunity to initiate marker assisted selection (MAS) to reduce birth weight with minimal effect on postnatal growth, thus reducing the amount and degree of dystocia, and lessening the economic loss associated with calving difficulty. In addition, this finding indicates that significant genetic variation for birth weight (and presumably other production-related traits) exists within herds comprised of strictly Bos taurus germplasm.