Climate change threatens the ability of agriculture and forestry to meet growing global demands for food, fibre and wood products. Information gathered from genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE), which demonstrate intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity (the ability of a genotype to alter its phenotype in response to environmental change), may prove important for bolstering agricultural and forest productivity under climate change. Nonetheless, very few studies have explicitly quantified genotype plasticity-productivity relationships in agriculture or forestry. Here, we conceptualize the importance of intraspecific variation in agricultural and forest species plasticity, and discuss the physiological and genetic factors contributing to intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity. Our discussion highlights the need for an integrated understanding of the mechanisms of GxE, more extensive assessments of genotypic responses to climate change under field conditions, and explicit testing of genotype plasticity-productivity relationships. Ultimately, further investigation of intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity in agriculture and forestry may prove important for identifying genotypes capable of increasing or sustaining productivity under more extreme climatic conditions. Information gathered from genotype-by-environment interactions (GxE), which demonstrate intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity, may prove important for bolstering agricultural and forest productivity under climate change. We conceptualize the importance of intraspecific variation in phenotypic plasticity in the context of agriculture and forestry, and discuss the physiological and genetic factors influencing plasticity differences among genotypes. Our assessment reveals the need for an integrated understanding of the mechanisms of GxE, and more extensive assessments of intraspecific variation in agricultural and forest species responses to climate change under field conditions.