The objectives of this study were to define breeding objectives and derive economic weights for production traits in family-based beef cattle systems, assess the sensitivity of these weights to changes in market and husbandry indicators and estimate the expected genetic changes in the selection criteria proposed. Based on data from the production systems, farms revenues and expenses, obtained from interviews and meetings with producers, a bioeconomic model was derived, relating biological traits of animals with the financial result of the production system based on calf-crop, selling male calves and culling cows for finishing. Traits considered in the model as breeding goals were weaning rate, weaning weight and cow weight. The economic weights, obtained by the partial derivative of the bioeconomic model with respect to the trait in question, assessed on the average value of the remaining traits, were R$ 73.21% for weaning rate, R$ 17.07/kg for weaning weight and R$ 4.75/kg for cow weight. An index for joint selection of these three criteria would allocate 89.5% of importance to weaning rate, 6.9% for weaning weight and 3.6% for cow weight. In this way, for every R$ 100.00 of genetic gain in this index, there would be an increase of 1.4% in weaning rate, but with reduction of 0.004 kg in weaning weight and 0.665 kg in cow weight due to negative genetic association between these traits. The proposed index and the relative importance identified for the economic traits can guide the selection decisions of smallholders, both in the choice of their animals and in the acquisition of bulls, cumulatively increasing the productivity of their herds.