Harrison M. (Mac) Bains, Jr., vice president and treasurer of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, has joined the board of directors of AgriBioTech, Inc., bringing the board to seven directors, four of whom are from outside the company.

During the March 1999 change in senior management, the Company said it intended to create a
new, nine-person board, a majority of whom would be outside directors. ABT is continuing its
search for additional outside directors to achieve this goal.

Bains, 56, has an extensive background in senior corporate financial management positions. Early in his tenure at Bristol-Myers, the company merged with Squibb Corporation to form one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. After combining the two companies' Treasury functions, he has been responsible for their financing activities, worldwide cash management, investment management, real estate, insurance, internal audit and investor relations.

Prior to joining Bristol-Myers in 1988, he was Senior Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank's
Primary Industry Group, which included chemicals, metals and mining, agri-business, and forest
products. Prior to that, Bains was Senior Vice President & Treasurer at RJR Nabisco (and
predecessor companies).

"In reconstructing our board of directors to help complete AgriBioTech's turnaround, Mac Bains
becomes our fourth outside director to combine outstanding corporate and financial services
experience with the company's highly committed internal management team,'' said Richard Budd,
chairman and chief executive officer.

A resident of Summit, New Jersey, Bains is a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association and a
member of the New York Advisory Board of the Factory Mutual System. He is also a past Board
Member of the National Association of Corporate Treasurers, a past National Committee
Chairman of The Financial Executive Institute's International Liaison and Policy Committee, and a
past Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association Treasurers. He also is a trustee if the University of the Redlands in Redlands, California, where he earned an undergraduate degree before earning an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.

AgriBioTech, Inc. is a vertically integrated, full-service seed company specializing in the forage and turfgrass sector, complete with research and development of proprietary seed varieties, seed
processing plants, and a national and international distribution and sales network. ABT's vision is to lead the turf and forage seed industry in discovering its value potential.

Company news release
N2263