Exhibit 99

[Midwest Grain Products Logo and Address]

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  MIDWEST GRAIN REPORTS SIGNIFICANT  INCREASE
                        IN THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS

         ATCHISON, Kan., May 8, 2000--Midwest Grain Products, Inc. (MWGP), today
reported  that the  company's  net income for the third  quarter of fiscal  2000
climbed to $1,607,000,  or 18 cents per share,  significantly  overshadowing the
prior year's third quarter net income of $232,000,  or 2 cents per share.  Sales
for the period,  which ended March 31, 2000, were $57,656,000  compared to sales
of $56,958,000 for the third quarter of fiscal 1999.

         For the first nine months of fiscal 2000, the company had net income of
$3,921,000,  or 43 cents per share,  on sales of  $172,593,000,  compared to net
income of $2,328,000,  or 24 cents per share, on sales of  $162,813,000  for the
first nine months of fiscal 1999.

         According to Ladd Seaberg,  president and chief executive officer,  the
third quarter earnings  improvement resulted primarily from increased demand for
vital wheat  gluten,  specialty  wheat  proteins and wheat  starches.  Lower raw
material costs for grain on a per unit basis also had a favorable  impact on the
quarter's  results,  he  noted.  The  company's  third  quarter  alcohol  sales,
meanwhile,  continued  to be subjected  to tight  market  conditions,  squeezing
selling prices below levels of a year ago. However,  Seaberg  reported,  alcohol
sales currently are benefitting  from increased  demand and improved  pricing in
the fuel grade sector.

         Seaberg  also  reported  that steady  growth is expected to continue in
sales of the company's value-added wheat-based  ingredients,  which are produced
and  marketed  for use in a variety of food and  non-food  applications.  "These
products,  consisting  of specialty  and modified  proteins and  starches,  hold
tremendous promise and are the focal point of our long-term growth  strategies,"
Seaberg  said.  "They  continue to  effectively  prove their  ability to satisfy
evolving needs in the marketplace such as helping  customers meet growing demand
for products that offer greater consumer convenience, selection and quality."

         To strengthen the company's sales capabilities,  "we are fortifying our
marketing operations with an enhanced organizational structure that should allow
us to more effectively and rapidly move our products, particularly our specialty
proteins and starches, into a higher growth mode," Seaberg stated.  "Measures we
are taking  include the creation of an executive  vice  president's  position to
oversee the development and  implementation of all marketing and sales programs,
and the  addition  of  experienced  formulation  scientists  to assist our sales
personnel  in  providing  enhanced  technical  support  services  to  customers.
Additionally,   we  intend  to  actively   explore   possibilities   for  future
acquisitions  and/or  relationships that would complement our growth strategies,
add to our profitability and help strengthen stockholder value," he said.

         "In the immediate future," Seaberg  continued,  "we expect fuel alcohol
demand to remain at or near the current  higher level  through the summer months
when  motor  fuel  usage  in this  country  typically  climbs."  He  added  that
grain-based fuel alcohol, or ethanol as it is commonly known, has

recently gained  increased favor in the marketplace as "the safe,  effective and
logical answer" to the nation's gasoline oxygenate needs. This has resulted from
the  Environmental  Protection  Agency's  recent  proposal to phase-out  MTBE, a
synthetically-derived  oxygenate, as the result of health-related  environmental
concerns.  Seaberg also  pointed out that prices for corn,  which is used in the
alcohol production process, have nudged up due mainly to concerns about dry soil
conditions in sections of the nation's grain belt. As a result,  improvements in
fuel alcohol prices could be partially offset, he noted.

While  continuing at a higher rate than was experienced a year ago, sales of the
company's  vital  wheat  gluten have  slackened  some since the end of the third
quarter, Seaberg reported. "Although the nearly two-year-old quota on imports of
foreign  gluten has helped  alleviate  some of the severe  effects of excessive,
artificially-priced   shipments  from  the  European   Union,  we  have  seen  a
substantial rise in gluten shipments from other parts of the world, most notably
Poland," he said. "Furthermore,  with the opening of the third year of the quota
on June 1, the market could be immediately  inundated with imports as individual
producers  race to beat  quota  limits  placed on their  respective  countries."
Seaberg  indicated that a stabilization  or lowering of grain raw material costs
could help counter these conditions in the gluten market.

Seaberg added that actions to improve the  effectiveness  of the quota presently
are being pursued in  Washington.  "While there is no certainty as to when or to
what extent additional steps might be taken,  further action on this issue would
reinforce the intent of the quota to help create a more level and stable playing
field in the gluten market," Seaberg stated.  "Additionally," he said, "it would
demonstrate to the American public and to current and future trade partners that
the United States is sincere about  enforcing  necessary  safeguard  measures to
preserve fair trade.


This news release  contains  forward-looking  statements  as well as  historical
information.  Forward-  looking  statements  are identified by or are associated
with such words as  "intend,"  "believe,"  "estimate,"  "expect,"  "anticipate,"
"hopeful,"  "should," "may" and similar  expressions.  They reflect management's
current  beliefs  and  estimates  of  future  economic  circumstances,  industry
conditions,  company performance and financial results and are not guarantees of
future performance. The forward-looking statements are based on many assumptions
and factors,  including those relating to grain prices,  gasoline prices, energy
costs,   product  pricing,   competitive   environment  and  related   marketing
conditions,   operating   efficiencies,   access  to  capital   and  actions  of
governments.  Any changes in the assumptions or factors could produce materially
different results than those predicted and could impact stock values.

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