What does ME stand for in feed energy classifications?

• A. Maximum Energy
• B. Metabolizable Energy
• C. Measured Energy
• D. Maintained Energy

Answer: (B)

Metabolizable energy is the portion of feed energy that the animal can actually use for maintenance and production after accounting for losses in feces, urine, and gases. It sits as the energy available to the animal’s metabolism once waste and excretory losses are removed from the total energy present in the feed. That’s why this term is the standard one used when discussing how much energy a feed provides to the animal.

The other phrasings aren’t used to classify feed energy in this way. Maximum Energy doesn’t denote a standard energy value in nutrition, Measured Energy isn’t a recognized term for feed energy classifications, and Maintained Energy refers to the concept of energy needed for staying alive rather than the energy content of the feed that’s actually available after losses.