Americans should prepare to scrape up more milk money as growing world demand for dairy products has prices on an upward track.

In April, a gallon of fortified whole milk cost an average of $3.69. That's 7.5% more than a year ago and the highest price since September 2011, CNN Money says the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

For years, the U.S. dairy industry was focused on the domestic market, but during the past year U.S. producers have been cashing in on the growing appetite for milk in emerging markets. As exports have risen, so have prices.

Editor’s Note: Retire 10 Years Earlier With These 4 Stocks

Southeast Asia bought 39% more American milk through April than a year ago, CNN Money says data from the U.S. Dairy Export Council revealed. And that surge is vastly overshadowed by the burgeoning demand in China, where imports rose 91%.

The average price for raw milk in April was $25.30 per 100 pounds compared to $13.15 in April 2009, in inflation-adjusted dollars, Businessweek reported.

“This is a very nice turn of events,” Ken Nobis, who runs a Michigan dairy farm, told Businessweek. “The outlook for dairy is very rosy right now.”

The USDA agrees, viewing dairy farming as one of the few bright spots in commercial agriculture, citing expectations that dairy farmers will see incomes jump 28% this year.

This recent good fortune for U.S. dairy farmers is occurring amid misfortune for dairy farmers elsewhere, notes Businessweek.

In China, producers are hampered by production problems and consumer skepticism about safety standards. And New Zealand, a leading exporter and major supplier to China, has seen its production hit by the effects of last year's drought.

“We're in a global market, and markets have been red hot for dairy and protein,” Eric Meyer, dairy division president for the HighGround Trading Group, a futures brokerage, told CNN Money.

And that means American consumers should expect to pay more for milk as U.S. production is increasingly shipped abroad.

Futures contracts, which trade on the commodities exchanges, provide insight into expectations for prices in the upcoming months. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Class III skim and class IV skim—the easiest classes to export—traded up 17% and 21% respectively, from the same period a year ago.

“Consumers are paying more for their milk at their grocery store, there's no doubt about it,” Jack Scoville, vice president of the Price Futures Group brokerage, tells CNN Money. “And that's probably going to continue into the future.”

Editor’s Note: Retire 10 Years Earlier With These 4 Stocks

Related Articles:

• US Dairy Farmers Threaten to Oppose Pacific Trade Deal
• Natural Foods Retailer to Farmers: Let Cows Graze