I have never figured out why many people get so hung up on the price of semen. Of course, there are upper limits you can afford to pay, however, when you are looking at semen between $15 - $35 per straw, that is only $200 difference on a cane of 10 straws. If I am going to go to all the work of watching cows, getting them in, synch drugs, etc etc I want to make sure I am using the best genetics I can afford for each cow. This cattle breeding thing can be a real mind game, and I usually spend many hours each year, thinking about the options I think should work on each cow. On my heifers, I usually breed them all to an easy calving bull,as I feel it is important to have a trouble free calving the first time.
I would be much more concerned about the quality of the bull being used, and the quality of his semen. Also, there often is a reason some bulls are higher priced. Sometimes, the bull owner prices the semen higher, so that he will get used on higher quality females, rather than across an entire herd. I see good logic to this approach.
In the long run, the price of the semen is one of the minor considerations. I find that many ranchers have a much clearer vision on the importance of buying good sire power. Many will spend $3000-$4000 ... or more for good bulls. In our bull sale last spring, we had commercial producers buying bulls to $4850, and I have seen many in other sales pay much more than this. Quality is seldom cheap, and it almost always pays dividends .
Another thing to remember is that the price of the semen does not refer to the quality of the sire. A bull who sells for $15 per straw can be just as good as a bull who sells at $45 per straw. This is where you have to study you lessons and make decisions on what you think will work best for the end product you are trying to produce.