Climate change tends to be addressed by accurate statistics and modelling, but it is generally perceived abstractly, being considered a distant psychological risk in which impacts and effects are spatially and temporally differentiated. In other words, people’s attitude towards climate change is that it will impact other individuals and communities that are geographically, temporally, and even generationally removed from themselves. However, due to the hybrid nature of climate change as both a physical and social phenomenon, individuals are not ‘blank slates’ receiving information and facing climate change. Many have argued that deepening personal experience could be the first step for reducing individual and community psychological distance of climate change while increasing the potential for behavior change. Considering that agriculture affects and is affected by climate change in several ways, farmers can provide first-hand observations of climate change impacts and testing different adaptation options. This contribution provides an overview of the intellectual structure of farmers’ behavior on climate change awareness, perceived risks, and adaptation capacity. A portfolio of 108 survey studies published in the last decade was selected for a comprehensive analysis. Exploratory variables such as farmers’ socio-demographic characteristics, level of climate change awareness, major perceived impacts, and adaptation measures, parameters, and barriers have been reported. In addition to the bibliographic analysis, the first results from a survey conducted in different irrigation systems in northern Italy will be tested to identify(dis)similar trends in farmers’ behavior. The identification of not only farmers’ behavior gaps but also their causing reasons will contribute to focus attention on most concerning issues and provide more accurate bottom-up knowledge to managers and decision-makers.