45°50’8”N 119°41’57”W: Hybrid-Poplar Farm

By Ryan Lingard

At 65 mph, a solid 5 minutes of Oregon’s I-84 freeway travel is spent adjacent a hybrid-poplar farm. A wall of green lines the interstate’s southern edge between the sleepy town of Boardman and its nearest neighbor, Hermiston.

Under most circumstances, this event would go largely unnoticed to the vehicular passerby. The rigorous cadence and uniform order of typical farms leave travelers to find more exciting or less predictable stimulus than the repetitive rows of plants. But rising at a vertical height upwards of 100 feet, standing proudly amongst the rolling sage-brushed plains that tumble into the Columbia River Gorge, and spanning nearly 6 miles in each direction, this hybrid-poplar farm evokes mystery and astonishment.

Those who take the time to look deeper will find a unique human relationship to land and crop.

Ryan Lingard is a designer living in Portland, Oregon. His work includes environments, objects, and images.

BRACKET [on farming]

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