Strigolactones are a novel class of plant hormone that have a strong impact on a range of important crop traits, in addition to the inhibition of tiller bud outgrowth. We have isolated a series of new barley gene edited mutants that are disrupted in the strigolactone pathway. Each type of strigolactone mutant produces distinctive effects on shoot architecture and other important crop traits, and are helping us understand how hormones regulate crop environmental adaption. Together with synthetic hormones and inhibitors, the mutants provide a tool kit to unravel the effect of strigolactones on various traits, including shoot and root architecture, grain size, senescence, nutrient use efficiency and yield. We report on experiments that further uncover the important impact of strigolactones on crop plants and factors that involve strigolactone function. These factors include sub-optimal conditions, timing of shoot architecture decisions, and the relationship between tiller number and grain size. Moreover, strigolactones show a complex interplay with other plant hormone pathways, in particular with auxin transport. We will describe some of the most interesting aspects of this research and propose a way forward for future research to find ways to utilise strigolactones for enhanced crop performance.