Grasslands have been concerned by environmental policies for about ten years. Three types of measures were applied in succession. The National Rural Development Programme (PDRN), assessed here halfway, gives food for some thoughts. There are presently some 5 million ha grasslands under contracts, out of a total of 10 million recorded on the national territory. It has been possible to curb the decline in the total area of grasslands, uninterrupted since 1970. The measures adopted in succession, i.e. PMSEE (Prime au Maintien des Systèmes d'Elevage Extensifs = Premium for the maintenance of extensive livestock farming systems), CTE (Contrat Territorial d'Exploitation = Territorial Farm Contract), and PHAE (Prime Herbagère Agro-Environnementale = Farm environmental pasture premium) were either nationwide (PMSEE), or valid for a département ; they were applied at the field level or at the farm level. The trend was an ever finer adaptation to specific local or territorial conditions, leading to an extreme diversity of specifications. Grasslands constitute indeed the central object of these measures but their specific potential functions are hardly taken into account. It is indispensable to keep a watchful eye on the long-term effects of these measures. From an agricultural point of view, they tend to bolster up the specialization of soils, the hardest to till being reserved for grassland. Moreover, the year-round stocking rate becomes immaterial as regards the management of the ecological trends at work in grasslands.