OEB
Definition
OEB (Onbestendige Eiwit Balans) indicates how much protein and energy become available in the rumen and whether these are in balance.
A positive OEB means that relatively more protein is available in the rumen compared with energy.
A negative OEB indicates a relative shortage of rumen protein.
Rumen
At ration level, OEB is a very important characteristic. OEB has a direct relationship with rumen fermentation, rumen acidification and the urea content in milk. OEB is one of the parameters used to steer rumen fermentation in a specific direction.
Corn silage
Certain roughages typically have a negative OEB. Corn silage is a typical example, with an average value of −30 OEB/kg dry matter. This means that corn silage is a feed ingredient that provides relatively high energy and relatively low protein in the rumen.
Grass silage
Grass silage shows a wide range of OEB values (from −20 to +130). In practice, every grass silage and every cut should be analysed, as both fermentable energy and fermentable protein can vary greatly.
Sunlight, temperature, fertilisation levels, cutting height and dry matter content all have a major influence on the OEB value of grass.
DVE+ and OEB+
Within the DVE/OEB 2007 system of CVB, calculation rules are defined for parameters such as soluble crude protein, NDF digestibility and lactic acid.
Eurofins Agro is able to measure these parameters directly and can therefore replace estimation formulas with direct analysis. Based on these measurements, Eurofins Agro calculates the protein value according to the DVE/OEB 2007 calculation rules.
As a result of this more accurate determination, DVE+ and OEB+ are reported.