Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers Licensure Examination (ABELE) · Philippines · Professional Regulatory Board of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, PRC
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersPlanning a farmstead and designing its buildings, stores and animal houses, including the ventilation that keeps animals healthy.
In the exams: NCEES PE Facilities & Structures 12–18 questions; PRC ABE structures, environment and bioprocess (36%); ICAR AIEEA-PG Unit VI (farmstead planning, heating and cooling load); TNPSC Unit V
PRC Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers Licensure Examination (Philippines)
Structures, environment and bioprocess (36% bundle): livestock and poultry housing design, space requirements, ventilation and evaporative cooling, storage structures, and PAES standards for agricultural buildings.
How our questions for Agricultural and Biosystems Engineers Licensure Examination spread across the units of Agricultural Structures & Environmental Control. Difficulty: 5 easy, 17 medium, 16 hard.
| Poultry housing | 5 | |
| Ventilation rate from heat and moisture balance | 5 | |
| Farmstead planning | 4 | |
| Manure storage structures | 4 | |
| Dairy cattle housing | 3 | |
| Swine housing | 3 | |
| Space requirements for livestock | 3 | |
| Farm roads and fencing | 3 | |
| Design loads: dead, live, wind, snow and grain | 2 | |
| Rat-proof godowns | 2 | |
| Post-frame buildings | 2 | |
| Rural houses and threshing floors | 1 | |
| Structural design of bins and silos | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A farm is planning a dairy unit beside an existing feed store. The milk tanker, feed deliveries, manure spreaders and dead-stock collection all use one track through the cow yards. What is the main planning fault?
C. Clean and dirty traffic share one route, creating a biosecurity and hygiene risk
Good layout separates clean traffic (feed, milk) from dirty traffic (manure, dead stock) and keeps outside vehicles at the edge of the unit. Dead-stock collection belongs at the perimeter, never in the parlour, and there is no rule of a minimum approach length.
Further reading: MidWest Plan Service, Structures and Environment Handbook (MWPS-1)
In which milking parlour do cows stand at right angles to the pit and get milked from behind, between the hind legs?
C. Parallel (side-by-side) parlour
In a parallel parlour cows stand at 90° to the pit and units are attached between the hind legs. In a herringbone cows stand at an angle and are milked from the side; in a tandem they stand nose to tail along the pit.
Further reading: MWPS-7 Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment
A dairy farm in a hot, humid coastal region installed fine misters that spray into the air of the feed alley, but the cows still show heat stress. What change is most likely to help?
B. Wet the cows' coats with sprinklers in cycles and evaporate the water with fans
Humid air can absorb little extra water, so misting the air cools it little and raises humidity. Wetting the coat and then evaporating that water with fans takes heat directly from the cow. Saturating the air or closing curtains worsens the problem, and air movement increases heat loss.
Further reading: MWPS-7 Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment
Why is a high eave or roof height recommended for naturally ventilated dairy sheds in hot climates?
C. It boosts the stack effect and moves the hot roof away from the cows
Height between inlet and outlet increases stack-driven airflow, and a roof further away delivers less radiant heat to the animals. Overhead hay storage blocks ventilation; wind through the shed is wanted in summer; dust is not the reason.
Further reading: MWPS-7; FAO Rural Structures in the Tropics
Why are standby generators and alarms treated as essential parts of a closed, mechanically ventilated poultry house?
D. A power cut stops the fans, and birds can die of heat within a short time
A closed house holding thousands of birds overheats quickly when fans stop, so backup power and failure alarms protect the flock. The other reasons describe functions that are not why backup systems are mandatory parts of the design.
Further reading: MWPS-32
What is the main purpose of all-in, all-out management by room in a pig unit?
A. To empty, clean and dry each room between batches and break disease cycles
Moving whole batches in and out together lets each room be cleaned and rested, which breaks the transfer of pathogens from older to younger pigs. Mixing ages and continuous flow are exactly what all-in, all-out avoids.
Further reading: MWPS-8
A consultant designing a pig unit for export to several countries quotes a single 'international' space allowance per pig. What is wrong with this approach?
A. Space allowances are law in some countries and advice in others, and they differ
Minimum space is legal in the EU and some other jurisdictions and advisory elsewhere, with different values and weight bands. It rises with live weight in every system. There is no single international figure.
Further reading: Council Directive 2008/120/EC; MWPS-8
Animals and wet surfaces in a winter barn release 40 kg/h of water vapour. Inside air is to be held at humidity ratio 0.006 kg/kg; outside air is 0.003 kg/kg. Taking ρ = 1.2 kg/m³, what ventilation rate is needed?
B. 11,111 m³/h
Dry-air flow = 40/(0.0060 − 0.0030) = 13,333 kg/h; volume = 13,333/1.2 = 11,111 m³/h. 13,333 leaves the flow in kg/h; 5,556 uses the inside humidity ratio alone; 3,704 adds the humidity ratios instead of subtracting.
Further reading: Albright, Environment Control for Animals and Plants
A bunker silo feeds 60 cows 25 kg of silage each per day. Silage density is 650 kg/m³ and the face must be removed at least 15 cm per day to limit spoilage. What is the largest face area that achieves this?
D. 15.4 m²
Daily volume = 60 × 25/650 = 2.31 m³; face = 2.31/0.15 = 15.4 m². 0.35 m² multiplies; 23.1 m² uses 10 cm; 10.0 m² skips the density conversion. Recommended removal rates vary (roughly 15–30 cm/day), so the stem fixes it.
Further reading: Silage management texts
What mainly decides the minimum storage period for a slurry store in many countries?
B. Legal closed periods for spreading, plus the crop and soil spreading calendar
Storage lets manure be spread when crops can use it and soils can accept it; nitrate and water-protection rules in many countries forbid spreading in winter or the rainy season, fixing the minimum months of storage. Tanker size, milk yield and colour do not set the period.
Further reading: EU Nitrates Directive guidance; NRCS AWMFH
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