UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 SCHEDULE 13G Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No. 8) MIDWEST GRAIN PRODUCTS, INC. (Name of Issuer) Common Stock, No Par Value (Title of Class of Securities) 59832G 104 (CUSIP Number) Check the following box if a fee is being paid with the statement [ ]. (A fee is not required only if the reporting person: (1) has a previous statement on file reporting beneficial ownership of more than five percent of the class of securities described in Item 1; and (2) has filed no amendment subsequent thereto reporting beneficial ownership of five percent or less of such class.) (See Rule 13d-7.) *The remainder of this cover page shall be filed out for a reporting person's initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter disclosures provided in a prior cover page. The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes). Page 1 of 5 Pages CUSIP No. 59832G 104 13G Page 2 of 5 Pages _________________________________________________________________ 1 NAME OF REPORTING PERSON Midwest Grain Products, Inc. Employee stock Ownership Plan 48-6107197 _________________________________________________________________ 2 CHECK THE APPROPRIATE BOX IF A MEMBER OF A GROUP* (a) [ ] (b) [X] _________________________________________________________________ 3 SEC USE ONLY _________________________________________________________________ 4 CITIZENSHIP OR PLACE OF ORGANIZATION U.S.A. _________________________________________________________________ 5 SOLE VOTING POWER NUMBER OF 0 SHARES __________________________________________________ BENEFICIALLY 6 SHARED VOTING POWER OWNED BY 864,719 EACH __________________________________________________ REPORTING 7 SOLE DISPOSITIVE POWER PERSON 0 WITH __________________________________________________ 8 SHARED DISPOSITIVE POWER 864,719 _________________________________________________________________ 9 AGGREGATE AMOUNT BENEFICIALLY OWNED BY EACH REPORTING PERSON 864,719 _________________________________________________________________ 10 CHECK BOX IF THE AGGREGATE AMOUNT IN ROW (11) EXCLUDES CERTAIN SHARES* The Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership [ ] in all the shares in Row 9. _________________________________________________________________ 11 PERCENT OF CLASS REPRESENTED BY AMOUNT IN ROW (11) 8.86% _________________________________________________________________ 12 TYPE OF REPORTING PERSON* EP _________________________________________________________________ *SEE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE FILLING OUT! Page 3 of 5 Pages SCHEDULE 13G For Midwest Grain Products, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan Item 1(a) Name of Issuer: Midwest Grain Products, Inc. Item 1(b) Address of Issuer's Principal Executive Offices: 1300 Main Street Atchison, Kansas 66002 Item 2(a) Name of Person Filing: Midwest Grain Products, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan Item 2(b) Address of Principal Business Office or, if None, Residence: 1300 Main Street Atchison, Kansas 66002 Item 2(c) Citizenship: Kansas Item 2(d) Title of Class of Securities: Common Stock, No Par Value Item 2(e) CUSIP Number: 59832G 104 Item 3 If this Statement is filed pursuant to Rules 13d-1(b), or 13d-2(b), check whether the person filing is a: (f) [x] Employee Benefit Plan, Pension Fund which is subject to the provisions of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 or Endowment Fund. Item 4 Ownership: The following information is provided as of December 31, 1996: (a) Amount Beneficially Owned: 864,719 (b) Percent of Class, based on 9,765,172 shares outstanding: 8.86% Page 4 of 5 Pages (c) Number of Shares as to Which Such Person has: (i) Sole Voting Power to Vote or to Direct the Vote: 0 (ii) Shared Power to Vote or Direct the Vote: 864,719 (iii) Sole Power to Dispose or to Direct the Disposition of: 0 (iv) Shared Power to Dispose or to Direct the Disposition of: 864,719 The Midwest Grain Products Employee Stock Ownership Plan disclaims beneficial ownership in all of the above-referenced shares. The reporting person is the principal stock ownership plan of Midwest Grain Products, Inc. The Employee Stock Ownership Plan and each of the subsidiary employee stock ownership plans are managed by five Trustees consisting of Laidacker M. Seaberg, Robert G. Booe, Randy M. Schrick, Brian Cahill and Dave Rindom, all of whom are employees of Midwest Grain Products, Inc., and all of whom have addresses at 1300 Main Street, Atchison, Kansas 66002. The other Midwest Grain Products, Inc. employee stock ownership plans, which are also managed by the five Trustees, and which shareholdings are included in the 864,719 shares mentioned above are: (a) Illinois Non Union ESOP; (b) Illinois Union ESOP; and (c) Union ESOP. The Trustees of the Plans are obligated to vote the shares which are allocated to participants (864,719 shares at December 31, 1996) in accordance with instructions given by such participants. Unallocated shares (0 shares at December 31, 1996) are voted by the trustees. Item 5 Ownership of 5% or less of a class: Not applicable Item 6 Ownership of more than 5% on behalf of another person: Not applicable Page 5 of 5 Pages Item 7 Identification and classification of the subsidiary which acquired the security being reported on by the parent holding company: Not applicable Item 8 Identification and classification of members of the Group: Not applicable Item 9 Notice of dissolution of group: Not applicable Item 10 Certification Not applicable SIGNATURE After reasonable inquiry and to the best of the knowledge of the undersigned, the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct. MIDWEST GRAIN PRODUCTS, INC. EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN February 13, 1997 s/Laidacker M. Seaberg Date__________________________ By:___________________________ Laidacker M. Seaberg, Trustee and Member of the Administrative Committee