Fertiliser and oil are not the only products that are under supply pressure due to the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf.

A marked slowdown in the supply of ammunition for hunting firearms is being reported right across Europe, as manufacturers attempt to meet increased military demand.

And while the tighter supply should not affect farmers who use rifles to shoot foxes or other small animals, deer hunters may find it more difficult to source some ammunition types, a major distributor and retailer of ammunition and guns told the Irish Farmers Journal.

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“There is no scarcity of ammunition and generally we have supplies. But we are finding that we have to order now six months to a year in advance,” said John Lambert of Wexford-based JL Firearms Ltd.

Low stores

The continuing war in Ukraine and the realisation by NATO countries that their stores of ammunition were dangerously low has put massive pressure on the supply of bullets for sports and hunting rifles.

Most farmers who use their rifles to shoot foxes and other small animals use .223 bullets and these are generally available, said Lambert.

However, he admitted that bullets for heavier-calibre rifles used for shooting deer could be more difficult to source – especially if it is “American ammunition”.

“But if we haven’t got a particular bullet in stock, we’d generally have an alternative,” Lambert said.

Controlling wildlife - and particularly deer numbers - is a major plank of the recently-announced plan to rein in the spread of TB.

The tight supply of ammunition has not been solely driven by the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf.

“Ammunition has been in poor enough supply since COVID. But orders in the US went berserk after the election of Joe Biden and it has not died down,” Lambert maintained.

Increased supply demand from the military right across Europe has cranked up the pressure on the continent’s leading manufacturers of ammunition. There are just four or five companies in the EU which supply both military and non-military markets, he explained.

“For now, I’d say we have enough ammunition in the country, but getting replacement supplies is taking a lot longer,” Lambert said.