as opposed to dairy cattle, it seems to me.

In hexagonal French we have "viande/vache de reforme" and "race à viande" as the two main categories, the latter being divided into Charolais, etc. and now, again, Aberdeen Angus.

In preliminary research I learnt a lot about "boeuf/viande de coupe sombre", being "dark-cutting beef/meat". Interesting as it is, it is irrelevant here.

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Note added at 8 hrs (2006-05-14 12:01:46 GMT)
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The difficulty being, I expect, that French uses the same word for the animal and its meat, so that cannot say "boeuf de boeuf" as we say "beef cows/cattle" (or, more properly/antiquatedly, "beef oxen"), and "boeuf de boucherie" just doesn't sound nice.

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Note added at 17 hrs (2006-05-14 21:13:58 GMT)
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Attacking it from another angle (what is meant by "boeuf commercial"?), it would appear an important distinction is between "commercial beef" (mature animals [bovins de reforme] and/or grain-fed) and "grass-fed beef". I still don't know for sure what is meant by "boeuf de coupe", but maybe this will help ;-)

Beef Cuts Menu For Veal click here and for Commercial Beef products (typically made from animals classified as Mature) click here. ...
www.cbef.com/products.htm

Sites oppose "grass-fed beef" to "commercial beef".

Unlike most commercial beef, grass-fed beef also comes from cows that aren't treated with drugs like growth hormones, steroids or antibiotics. ...
www.americangrassfedbeef.com/media.asp

A well-referenced discussion of CLA put out by the beef industry. Concludes potential for dietary beef (commercial beef, not grass grown with its elevated levels of CLA).
… Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a nutrient found in the fat of ruminant animals that feed on green grass
http://www.alderspring.com/health_benefits/html/cla.html

According to Mercola, most commercial beef has high fat context, ranging from 35 to 75 percent, most of it unsaturated. Grass-fed beef has less than 10 percent of its fat as saturated and have more of the health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and beta carotene.
http://renewingthecountryside.org/index.php?option=&mode=cat...

• Purchase a pound of lean ground beef from your local supermarket (virtually all commercial beef is grain-fed unless labeled otherwise) and compare it to a pound of Pasture Finished ground beef from Thundering Hooves.
http://www.thunderinghooves.net/health_benefits.htm


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Note added at 21 hrs (2006-05-15 00:55:06 GMT)
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If you think "boeuf de coupe" refers to the beef on the plate rather than beef on the hoof, how about "prime beef cuts" or just "prime beef"?

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Note added at 21 hrs (2006-05-15 01:10:18 GMT)
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And "manufacturing beef" appears to be an alternative to "commercial beef" (the sites listed are Antipodean, but I've seen it in EU texts too).

Systems of Beef Production
Many different systems of beef cattle production exist in New Zealand, but these can be conveniently divided into those involving beef breeding cows and those that are concerned with the growing and finishing of beef cattle. Both systems are operated on the same farm in some cases. An alternative division of the industry is into PRIME BEEF production, PRIMARILY FROM STEERS AND HEIFERS OF BEEF BREEDS, and dairy beef production, which involves the raising of dairy-bred bulls for the processing or manufacturing beef trade. In recent years, as the price for PRIME BEEF has increased relative to MANUFACTURING BEEF from bulls, an increasing number of cattle from the dairy industry have been used for prime beef production
www.beef.org.nz/statistics/plc991.pdf

There are eight quality grades for beef, although only the top three are usually identified and sold at retail: Prime, Choice and Select.
Prime - The highest grade in the U.S. meat grading system. Prime has the most marbling and is produced in limited quantities. Prime beef is most commonly sold in fine restaurants, specialty meat markets and is exported to upscale restaurants in foreign countries.
Choice - Choice has less marbling than Prime but more than Select. It is typically found in the service meat case at your local grocery store.
Select - Select has the least amount of marbling of the top three grades, making it leaner but possibly less tender, juicy or flavorful than Prime or Choice. Select is most commonly found in the self-service meat case at your local grocery store
http://www.pgabeef.com/shopping_smart.htm

Manufacturing beef, which largely comes from the slaughter of cows and bulls ... Insignificant differences between bull beef and prime beef schedule prices ...
www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/rural-nz/ statistics-and-forecasts/sonzaf/2003/2003-sonzaf-19.htm

Strengthening prices of U.S. beef will also limit export growth in the near term.
Ungraded U.S. beef will increasingly compete in our domestic market with imported MANUFACTURING GRADE BEEF as prices for utility cows have risen sharply in 2000 and are expected to continue rising.
Commodity and Marketing Programs
Foreign Agricultural Service


New Zealand’s beef industry produces approximately 580,000 tonnes of beef per year, about 80% of which is exported, with
approximately 70% of this beef destined for the North American manufacturing market. Around 65% of beef cattle originate from the dairy
industry. BEEF COWS PRODUCE 1.1 MILLION CALVES (KILLED AS HEIFERS OR STEERS) PER YEAR FOR THE PRIME BEEF MARKET. In addition, 0.4 to 0.6 million of the 3.3 million calves produced by the dairy industry, predominantly Friesian or beef-sired dairy cross bulls, are retained for the MANUFACTURING BEEF MARKET. CULL DAIRY COWS also contribute significantly to this market
www.mssanz.org.au/modsim05/papers/dooley.pdf -