There's *always* been a cowhide glut, really. Think about it for a spell -- there's no way the leather industry has ever moved as much product as the beef industry is moving steaks, burgers, roasts, dog food, etc.
Here's a real-world example: On the west side of Emporia Kansas is a beef processing plant. If you're downwind of it, you'll smell one of the most rank obnoxious things that's ever assaulted your nose.
That smell comes from the plant burning excess cowhides -- they're doing it pretty much every day that they're turning cows into carcasses.