The adage that bigger is better is not always true.

With good genetics it is entirely possible to have calves with 80-90lb birth weights wean at 7-800lbs.

A good bull is essential but a great cow can raise a calf that has had a mediocre start to greatness. When I look at my crop of calves in the fall, I can obviously trace the best calves back to the best cows. In a lot of cases when you look at your herd you can trace a good percentage of your cows back to that one good cow that raised incredible heifers. Those heifers raised good heifers and so on.

My breeding program has those heifers at heart. Calving ease and milk are the foundation of healthy commercial cattle returns. These days the cost of a vet assisted birth is astronomical and cuts hard in to profit margins. A calf that is born at 80lbs unassisted, gets up and suckles within an hour has a head start over large calves that seem dopey and exhausted at birth. When the mother that has an abundance of milk, that smaller calf will in almost all cases pass the 110lb calf that spent the first week of his life recovering from an assisted birth.

I enjoy working with my cows as much as the next person but would far rather be doing preventative maintenance than obstetrics.

Here is proof that low birth weights don't have to add up to low weaning weights:
82 lbs.	82 lbs.	92 lbs.	88 lbs.