YAKIMA, Wash. — Five straight years of record crops aren’t dimming Northwest cherry growers’ predictions for 2007, as more acreage comes into production and volume continues to climb.

Growers are estimating the 2007 crop at between 140,000 and 150,000 tons for the five-state region that includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Montana.

Most of that is grown in Washington, where this year’s crop should be about 120,000 tons, said B.J. Thurlby, president of Northwest Cherry Growers, a promotional group for growers and shippers.

In 2006, Washington state cherry growers harvested an all-time high of 117,000 tons.

“Our crop last year grew 20 percent over the previous record crop in 2005. We don’t think we’re going to grow that much this season, but we do think we’ll top that again,” Thurlby said.

If the weather stays warm, with no extended heavy rain, growers see potential for the harvest to come in at the higher end of the range predicted for the entire region, Thurlby said.

Northwest growers could face increasing competition from California, where growers are predicting a normal-size crop for the first time in years. California and the Northwest produce the bulk of the nation’s sweet cherries.

California growers are estimating their 2007 crop at about 60,000 tons following several down years. The past two years, the harvest was reduced by half, to about 30,000 tons, due to poor weather.

California growers begin their harvest several weeks ahead of the Northwest, but the tail end of their season usually overlaps with the Northwest.

“We’ve had some acreage increases, so we probably have a higher potential. It just remains to be seen whether that comes true,” said Jim Culbertson, manager of the California Cherry Advisory Board.

California growers have planted more varieties that ripen earlier in the season to avoid that competition, Culbertson said. At the same time, Northwest growers continue to plant varieties that ripen later to keep cherries on retail shelves well into August.

“All of that planting, or I’d say 90 percent of it, is post-Fourth of July cherries, late-season cherries,” Thurlby said.

“The great message to consumers is that cherries are now available until the middle of August, where just two or three years ago, they would be done by the third week of July,” he added.