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FAIRFIELD, IOWA -- The field beside the Fairfield Hy-Vee has become a topic of conversation lately, and is also a grievance among residents.

They call the field an "eye sore", because the grass is long and brown. But the store director of the Hy-Vee said it's supposed to look that way. Prairie grass was originally put into the field because it is easy to maintain and environmentally-friendly.

"When we put the grass in, it was meant to be low maintenance, so that we didn't have to water it, didn't have to fertilize it, didn't have to cut the grass, because there was so much of it there," said Alan Shank. "Fairfield is quite an environmental town, so we thought it would be appealing to have that."

Unfortunately, with this summer's dry weather, the grass is brown rather than green. While there's nothing Shank and the store can do about that, they can keep maintaining it. Prairie grass is supposed to be burned every three months, but there are other ways to maintain it.

"I've been doing some research on that and you can plow it under or till it under and it accomplishes the same thing, so that's what we're looking for is low-maintenance, low-watering [and] environmental," Shank said.

A sign has been placed in the field alerting passersby that it is being maintained. Shank said the best thing they can do is educate the public on why the grass is there and how it is maintained.

He said they are not looking to make any major changes to its look in the years to come.