Raw Materials

Cattle farms located in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska collect the leather hides from young lean cows. It is estimated that about one cow hide can produce up to 20 footballs. Based on sales that accounts for about 3000 cow hides used yearly in just the NFL alone! If you compare this number to the number of footballs manufactured yearly by Wilson, estimates of over 35,000 whole cow hides are bought by Wilson yearly (Pierce).

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in 2015 there are around 90 million cows in the US alone. Wilson uses only a very small percentage of the total cows in the United States. The environmental impact of the company is low when compared to the estimated total of 90 million cows located in the country.

Cows are a very environmentally taxing animal compared to other livestock animals such as chickens or pigs. They require a large amount of land for grazing and living because of their large size as well as large amounts of water and food in order to survive. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization it is estimated that livestock is responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming (FAO). Even though 35,000 cows does not seem like much, out of the estimated 1.5 billion cattle  worldwide, these 35,000 cows do add to the overall problem of global warming that negatively impacts our environment..

Photograph: Alamy