Future increases in drought, temperature and atmospheric VPD will have negative impacts on crop yield. If breeders are to develop genotypes that continue to yield significantly under these constraints, a greater understanding of mechanisms involved in plant tolerance/resilience to high temperature and drought stress will be a priority for improved crop production. Increasingly, plant hormones are shown to be involved in the regulation of many plant responses to drought and temperature stress. We highlight here the utility of a novel quantitative method to evaluate genotypic yield resilience and productivity. This can help us exploit new physiological understanding of the regulation of specific crop yield components under environmental stress. This case study on wheat shows that a hormonal signature (ABA and ethylene) can be used as a physiological trait for plant improvement. Such an approach to crop improvement can lead to the development of new genotypes to combat developing climate challenges.