Aging Farmers and the Role of Community in Adaptation to Extreme Temperature Effects on Crop Yields

This study explores the mechanisms underlying farmers in adapting to climate change, with a focus on the effect of farmers’ age on the relationship between temperatures and crop yields. Using municipality–level data on Japanese rice production between 2001–2018, we find a nonlinear (inverted U–shaped) age effect on the temperature–yield relationship. Farmers in their late 50s exhibit the highest resilience to extreme temperatures, experiencing minimal yield loss, while farmers above and below this age threshold suffer more from extreme temperatures. We also find that active participation of local communities can help retiring and inexperienced farmers mitigate the negative temperature effects.