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For American men who qualify, becoming a sperm donor can be somewhat lucrative. You earn about $50 for each vial you fill. Xytex has 10,000 samples on hand, each one contains about 15,000 sperm.

Some might call it a commentary on society that human sperm and cattle sperm sell for about the same amount on the open market. It’s interesting to note that the United States is a leader in the sale of both commodities, although you can hardly call them interchangeable items.

In fact, sperm from a top bull can sell for $200.

“A specimen of that caliber is really hard to come by. The animal has been carefully bred and almost considered a one-of-a-kind creature,” says Brenda Hastings of World-wide Sires in Visalia, Calif., which ships bovine genetic material to 70 countries.

“I don’t think they can measure humans that way. Not yet, anyway.”

Buck Wolf is a producer at ABCNEWS.com. The Wolf Files is a weekly feature. If you want to receive weekly notice when a new column is published, join the e-mail list.