Beefs refer to bed parallel natural fractures, commonly calcite-filled. Their presence is frequent in shale oil/gas reservoirs. In the last years, this type of natural fractures has been a topic of discussion on how they impact to the hydraulic fracture, and consequently in wells productivity and project economics. This study presents a detailed characterization of beefs observed in the Vaca Muerta cores; and an analysis of their relationship with other rock properties. The aim is to predict and identify zones with high or low intensity of these structures. The integration of the natural fracture and sedimentological description from cores illustrates that the beef intensity has a clear relation with the sedimentological facies and its stacking pattern. The facies associations with high total organic carbon (TOC) and low calcite content display the high beef intensity (8 beef/meter) and it decreases to the facies association with low TOC and high calcite content (1 beef/meter). This pattern is observed in all the wells analyzed, independently of its position in the basin. We also observed an increase of beef thickness to the west of the Neuquén Basin, where rock maturity and deformation are high.On the basis of the beef intensity, it is possible to identify zones with high beef intensity that can be correlated between wells and it follows a stratigraphic correlation. In consequence it is possible to predict the beef intensity in the Vaca Muerta Formation on different positions in the basin, based on the stratigraphic context and the relationships obtained with the core description. This data is used with the petrophisycal and geomechanical studies to select the best landing zones for horizontal wells in the Vaca Muerta Formation.