The Dutch intensive livestock sector causes €9 billion-worth of damage to health and the environment, according to calculations by an economist on behalf of green campaign group Mobilisation for the Environment (MOB).

The positive impact brought by livestock farming is said to be worth some €3 billion and that means the damage caused by pig, chicken and dairy farming is three times the benefit to the economy, Van der Sleen said.

Max van der Sleen’s calculations are more pessimistic than earlier estimates, which put the damage at €6 billion. The lower figure is derived from six-year-old figures compiled by research group CE Delft, the Financieele Dagblad said.

The damage caused by intensive livestock farming has a key role in court cases brought against the state, the dairy and the meat sector by campaign groups such as MOB.