It takes a lot of work to put turkey on the table, and lately, a lot of technology as well.

At Woodland Farms, 12342 Hillcrest Drive in Story City, computers regulate the turkeys’ living conditions during their three-month stay. The computers lower and raise temperatures and air circulation automatically as well as dispense food and water.

“The turkeys can pretty much help themselves,” said Al Hermanson, president of the Woodland Turkey Growers division of Woodland Farms, Inc. “The computers have alarms to keep management informed if something’s not working properly.”

Soon, it may be mobile.

“We’re working to get it all hooked up to the Internet so we can monitor and control things from BlackBerrys,” Hermanson said.

But the technological revolution is only one of the changes the farm has braved since its founding in 1871; it also traded dairy cows for the turkeys it raises today.

“When we started, turkeys were a good alternative to dairy,” Hermanson said.

He has worked on the family-owned Century Farm since he was 10 years old.

Woodland Farms houses 270,000 turkeys annually. They keep the turkeys from the time they are six weeks old until they reach 18 to 20 weeks of age or 40 pounds, which is typically when they go to market.

Lately, though, they’ve been going to market a bit early. Hermanson said at the moment there is stress in the industry, so the group of turkeys at the farm now will be shipped one week early.

The farm’s processing plant, West Liberty Foods, provides Subway, Walmart and other national brands with turkey year-round.

“We don’t just grow turkeys for Thanksgiving,” Hermanson said.

Because the farm is technologically advanced, the five employees who make up the turkey department must undergo higher training to understand how the computer systems work.

Nick Hermanson has worked at Woodland Farms for three years. He earned degrees in agricultural systems technology and agronomy from Iowa State in 2006.

He recently attended a class at the University of Georgia where he learned about different ventilation systems and environmental control. Nick Hermanson said many of these training sessions happen throughout the year.

Al Hermanson said the computers are so important because it helps them raise happy, healthy animals.

Woodland Farms employees pay close attention to bio-security when caring for their animals.

Since the farm has so many animals at any given time, even a small sickness can spread rapidly through the group.

“Bio-security is very important because the turkeys need to be well taken care of and healthy,” Al Hermanson said. “And if one turkey catches a cold, then 9,000 of them catch a cold.”

While the computers make the farm run smoothly, they can’t do everything.

Al Hermanson said his employees are invaluable to making the farm a successful operation.

“Even though you rely on technology, you still have to have good employees that make sure everything is working right,” he said.