SHORT HILLS, NJ Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC, (FMA), the largest institutional shareholder of Farmer Brothers Co. (Nasdaq:FARM), made the following announcement today regarding the lawsuit commenced last week in federal court by Professor Leonard Rosenthal on behalf of minority shareholders of Farmer Brothers against the company and its directors for alleged violations of the Investment Company Act and breach of their fiduciary duties:

"The claims pressed in the lawsuit are consistent with FMA's long-held belief that Farmer Brothers' board of directors and management have taken actions or acquiesced in activities which, in our opinion, do not serve the best interests of the shareholders of the company, but rather serve to entrench the interests of the company's current management and those members of the Farmer family who have long been the company's dominant shareholders.

"We are pleased that Professor Rosenthal, a fellow shareholder of the company, has decided to bring this action on behalf of all of the minority shareholders of Farmer Brothers, including FMA."

Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC, is a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), a global investment organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton provides global and domestic investment management services through its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series and Fiduciary Trust subsidiaries. The San Mateo, CA-based company has over 50 years of investment experience and approximately $322 billion in assets under management as of November 30, 2003. For more information, please call 1-800/DIAL BEN(R) or visit franklintempleton.com.