Beef Explained: Castrated Males and Bulls, but France’s Beef Comes Mostly from Cows

Bull, steer, cow, heifer, or calf: these terms all designate bovines of the same species, Bos taurus. Yet each word points to a sex, an age, or a status, which European regulation expresses in categories. This vocabulary also reveals a small surprise at the butcher’s counter.

Only one operation distinguishes the bull from the steer: castration, typically performed when the calf is still young

The bull is an entire male kept for reproduction. The steer, by contrast, is a castrated male, most often in its first months. Deprived of its testicles, it produces far less testosterone, a hormone that influences both its growth and its behavior.

Thus, the bull develops a massive musculature, especially around the neck and shoulders. It can be territorial, even dangerous, particularly in the presence of other males. By contrast, the steer remains calmer, which helps explain its historic role as a working animal for plowing fields or pulling carts, before the arrival of the tractor.

In females, the heifer becomes a cow after her first calving, while the term calf designates both sexes

The feminine vocabulary hinges on a specific event. A heifer is a young female that has not yet given birth. From her first calving onward, she becomes a cow, whether she is raised for milk or for meat.

As for the calf, it denotes the young, male or female, during its first months. Additionally, farmers speak of a bullock or young bovine for an entire male that is fattened and then slaughtered before two years of age. After that, the heifers kept in the herd are used to renew the stock.

Regulation 1308/2013 of the European Union classifies the carcasses of large bovines into six categories by sex and age

For marketing, the European Union has laid out these distinctions in Regulation 1308/2013. Its Annex IV groups carcasses into categories: Z for animals from 8 to 12 months, A and B for uncastrated males depending on whether they are under or over 24 months, C for castrated males, D for cows that have calved, and E for other females.

Moreover, Annex VII of the same text governs the designations. In France, meat from a bovine younger than 8 months must be sold under the name “veal.” Beyond that, it falls under the category of large bovines, and INTERBEV, the interprofessional body, reminds us that the common label for beef encompasses these different animals.

Castration promotes marbling and tenderness, but reform cows provide the bulk of French steak

Castration changes the composition of the meat. With less testosterone, the animal stores more fat between the muscle fibers, what butchers call marbling. This marbling contributes to both tenderness and flavor, whereas meat from a bull or a young bovine remains leaner and firmer.

Nevertheless, true steers have become a minority in French slaughterhouses. According to FranceAgriMer’s 2025 report, reform cows — dairy or beef cows nearing the end of their productive life — account for almost half of the tonnage of large bovine carcasses slaughtered, compared with about 5% for steers. Consequently, a steak labeled as beef often comes from a cow, and less frequently from a steer in the strict sense.