Through a study of the evolution of farming systems, the authors aim at analyzing their influence on the utilization of agricultural space. A sample of farms in the Lorraine Plateau zone was analyzed using individual data from the censuses of 1970 and 1979. A typology which identifies the productive pattern is used. The larger farms influence most of the land use changes observed through three major factors : drainage, specialization on grain and exchanges of land. The presence of other farms with different orientations may however hinder these evolutions.
