Richard Budd, chairman and CEO, AgriBioTech Inc. announced that James W. Johnston has been elected to and joins the company's board of directors as an outside director.

As previously announced, ABT is continuing its search for three new and additional outside directors to add to its board. Once all three of these additional outside board members are appointed, ABT will have a nine-person board of directors with a majority of members being outside directors.

Johnston, 52, is president and CEO of Stonemarker Enterprises Inc., a consulting and investment
company. He previously served as vice chairman of RJR Nabisco Inc., a holding company, from
1995 to 1996. From 1989 to 1996, he also served as chairman of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and
was CEO of that company until 1995.

Johnston was named a director of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. in 1992 and chairman of R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco International Inc. in 1993. He retired from R.J. Reynolds in July 1996.

Johnston began his business career with Ford Motor Co. In addition to Ford, he has held senior
management positions at various subsidiaries of Northwest Industries Inc. and Citibank N.A. He
serves on various boards, including the Sealy Corporation and various non-profit organizations.

"We are extremely pleased that Jim Johnston has agreed to join our board of directors,'' said Budd in making the announcement, "and we look forward to his good counsel and working with him on building ABT into a profitable and industry-leading seed company.''

AgriBioTech is a fully integrated, full-service seed company specializing in the forage and turfgrass seed 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.

N1624