Farmers’ perceptions of the local climate reflect their awareness of climate change 28 and may affect their adaptation behaviors. However, current literature suffers a 29 knowledge gap on understanding farmers’ perceptions of climate change. This study 30 examines farmers’ perceptions of annual mean temperature, the consistency of these 31 perceptions with meteorological record data, and what influences this consistency. 32 The study found that more than 70% of farmers in China perceived an increasing 33 trend of annual mean temperature over the past 10 years, while only 18% of farmers 34 correctly perceived a decreasing trend, which is consistent with the meteorological 35 record data. Econometric analysis shows that social networks can improve a farmer’s 36 ability to correctly perceive temperature changes. Additionally, those with a larger 37 farm size are more likely to be able to consistently perceive temperature. This paper 38 concludes with several policy and research implications.