A system and method for load control of a wind turbine is disclosed. The method includes: selecting a plurality of wind turbine components for load monitoring; defining a load envelope for each of the selected components and storing the load envelopes in a controller, the load envelopes defining a maximum acceptable load capacity for the respective component that may be at or near the component's design capability; directly or indirectly monitoring loads on the selected components and generating corresponding load signals that are communicated to the controller; with the controller, determining if the loads acting on each of the selected components are within the component's respective load envelope; and the controller initiating corrective action in the event that the load acting on any one of the selected components exceeds the component's load envelope.