The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank goat herd will be sold off for $10 a head this week after the herd became plagued with parasitic worms. 

The land bank commission voted unanimously Monday to approve the sale to Derick Costa. The goats will be taken off-Island, where they will be butchered.

The herd was put up for auction following a recommendation made by the land bank’s livestock manager Winston Bell in late August. Mr. Bell suggested the goats— which numbered at 168 as of late September— be auctioned off because of the high number of parasite related deaths across the herd.

The land bank began to use goats as grassland management about 10 years ago, but the health of the animals has declined over the past two years. According to Mr. Bell, the goats are getting older and the parasitic worms had become resistant to dewormer. 

As the worms that survive the medical treatment reproduce, they create a population resistant to dewormer.

Only one bid was put forward for the goats, and Mr. Bell felt the decision was the best way forward.

“I feel pretty good about this option because someone is going to buy them and they’re going to be used for something,” Mr. Bell told the commission. 

Mr. Bell did not say what the goats would be used for after the herd was butchered. 

With the loss of the goats, the land bank may be turning to Pineywoods cattle. 

In Mr. Bell’s original recommendation in August, he proposed that the land bank purchase 25 to 30 head of cattle to take over the goats’ role grazing overgrown grass. The Pineywoods cattle, according to Mr. Bell’s approved proposal, are parasite-resistant and heat-tolerant. They are also smaller than average cattle breeds and require less hay in the winter.