Farm land in South Dakota isn't changing much, but taxes paid on it could.

The price for Ag land used to be based on the market, or what it would sell for. But the legislature has decided assessed value will be based on what it can produce.

Assessors have until March to tell land owners what their assessed land value is. But Brown County's equalization director Mary Worlie didn't get her first training on the new system until a week ago.

"Every county got this dropped onto them in the middle of August with no additional resources. And a lot of questions," Worlie said.

Worlie says the state sent her numbers for ag land values in the county under the new system. But to have a fair assessment, she says her office has to go through those numbers and adjust them based on other factors too.

When assessing land, Brown County considers characteristics such as accessibility, land use and location. But those were done through the old method. With the new plan in place, those adjustments are wiped clean and have to be re-done. Worlie says that could take years.

"We are squeezing that into a time frame of months. We're squeezing years into months," Worlie said.

"As we work through the wrinkles, we're looking at three to five years and the legislature at any time, being it's statutorily, can step in and make some changes as needed," Democratic Rep. Paul Dennert of Columbia said.

Dennert supports the new assessment method but understands it adds to the workload of the equalization office.

"Maybe revenue should have come up with that or put something in the bill but some counties might not be as severe as others," Dennert said.

Brown County is one of the more severe cases, so Worlie is asking the county commission for an extra full-time worker to get the job done.

Worlie says some of the land values jumped more than 200 percent under the new system. She says there are also gray areas where she isn't sure whether she'll even be able to make an adjustment.