In Spain, in the last decade beef cattle breeding programs have achieved a steady state. Up to now, selection programs have focused on increasing the amount of final product through the selection of animals according to weights at different ages. However, new market demands require new breeding goals. New objectives look for more efficiency to decrease production costs and obtain a better quality of meat. Genetic evaluation procedures tend to model the productive life of an individual as a whole. On the other hand, many beef breeds are now demanding international genetic evaluations. Different aspects related to optimization of selection programs in a short and long term are revised. Potential uses of molecular aspects in beef cattle breeding are briefly highlighted.