Case Studies
Proven systems for government and business
We build analytical systems and data products that people actually use — open-source, designed with intention, built to hold up.
Featured Case Study
Modernizing Agricultural Statistics: From 37 Legacy Systems to One Cloud Platform
Client
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), expanded to the Economic Research Service (ERS). Morton Analytics serves as a 2nd-tier subcontractor on the Statistics Application Modernization program.
Challenge
NASS managed agricultural data collection and reporting across 37 independent systems — each with its own technology stack, maintenance burden, and institutional knowledge requirements. Staff losses compounded the problem: when the person who understood a legacy system left, the system became a black box. Meanwhile, producer survey fatigue and declining response rates created urgent pressure to supplement traditional surveys with non-traditional data sources like satellite imagery and administrative records.
Approach
Open-source technology stack. No vendor lock-in, no license fees, no black boxes. Every component is transparent, reproducible, and peer-reviewable — critical for a statistical agency where methodology must withstand scrutiny.
Design thinking methodology. We embedded with NASS statisticians from day one — rapid prototypes, real feedback loops, working software they could test before it shipped. The people using the tools shaped the tools.
Cloud-native architecture. Consolidated 37 systems into a single platform that scales with demand, reduces maintenance overhead, and enables cross-system data integration that was previously impossible.
Earth observation integration. Designed the architecture to incorporate satellite remote sensing data (vegetation indices, land cover classification) alongside traditional survey data — enabling NASS to reduce reliance on producer surveys while maintaining statistical rigor.
Outcome
Successfully consolidated 37 independent systems into one unified cloud platform. Improved data processing efficiency and reduced the institutional knowledge risk that came with maintaining dozens of legacy systems.
Enabled integration of non-traditional data sources — satellite imagery, administrative records, and geospatial datasets — into the statistical production pipeline.
The contract expanded from NASS to the Economic Research Service (ERS) based on demonstrated results and trust. When the work holds up, the relationship grows.
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Open-source data visualization library built on D3.js and R. 17 chart types with a composable, reactive API. No JavaScript required.
