The validity of using space-planted nurseries for forage trait selection has often been questioned. In this study we compared space-planted versus seeded rows nurseries to estimate the heritability of forage quality traits. Twenty-two tall fescue half-sib families were established in two adjacent nurseries. In one nursery, 10-plant plots were established using 0.5 meter between plants and 1.0 meter between rows. In the second nursery, families were seeded into 6-row plots (1m X 3m). Plots were harvested five times in 2002 and 2003 and forage quality traits (CP, IVTD, NDF, dNDF, and ADF) were determined from grab samples. Narrow-sense heritabilities, estimated on an entry-mean basis, were moderate to high (0.55 to 0.77) for all traits using 0.5 meter spacing. Heritabilities from seeded plots were similar with notable exceptions of non-significant values for crude protein and ADF. Overall, these results support using spaced-plant nurseries for forage quality selection.