The impact of breed, economic input parameters and governmental subsidies on the relative economic importance of 15 beef cattle traits in a pasture system with intensive feedlot was investigated. For the basic situation that corresponded to the present situation in the Czech Republic, the following traits were most important for the Aberdeen Angus breed: cow longevity, mature weight of cows, calving performance, weight at weaning and dressing percentage. For the Charolais breed, the two most important traits were calving performance and cow longevity. Calf losses at calving, cow conception rate and dressing percentage followed with big distance. Excluding the cow weight, the relative importance of investigated traits was relatively insensitive to changes in product prices and in costs. Governmental subsidies had an important influence on the relative economic values of traits because they determined the production efficiency of the whole system.