DEFERRED COMPENSATION Level 1 (Notes)	12 Months Ended
DEFERRED COMPENSATION Level 1 (Notes)	Jul. 31, 2012
DEFERRED COMPENSATION [Abstract]
Compensation Related Costs, General	DEFERRED COMPENSATION Oil-Dri's deferred compensation plans permit directors and certain management employees to defer portions of their compensation and to earn interest on the deferred amounts. Participants have deferred $416,000 and $532,000 into these plans in fiscal years 2012 and 2011, respectively. We recorded $462,000 and $400,000 of interest expense associated with these plans in fiscal years 2012 and 2011, respectively. Payments to participants were $400,000 and $348,000 in fiscal 2012 and 2011, respectively, and the total liability recorded for deferred compensation was $7,272,000 and $6,701,000 at July 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The Oil-Dri Corporation of America Annual Incentive Plan provides certain executives with the opportunity to receive a deferred executive bonus award if certain financial goals are met. A total of $322,000 was awarded for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2012 to certain executives. These awards will vest and accrue interest over a three-year period. Financial targets under the provisions of the plan were not achieved for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2011; therefore, there was no award for fiscal 2011. Both of the above deferred compensation plans are unfunded. We fund these benefits when payments are made, and the timing and amount of the payments are determined according to the plans' provisions and, for certain plans, according to individual employee agreements. The Oil-Dri Corporation of America Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) provides certain retired participants in the Pension Plan with the amount of benefits that would have been provided under the Pension Plan but for: (1) the limitations on benefits imposed by Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and/or (2) the limitation on compensation for purposes of calculating benefits under the Pension Plan imposed by Section 401(a)(17) of the Code. We recorded approximately $698,000 and $24,000 in expense associated with the SERP in the fiscal years ended July 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The SERP is unfunded and we will fund benefits when payments are made. The total liability recorded for the SERP was $1,241,000 at July 31, 2012 and $544,000 at July 31, 2011.

The entire disclosure for compensation costs, including compensated absences accruals, compensated absences liability, deferred compensation arrangements and income statement compensation items. Deferred compensation arrangements may include a description of an arrangement with an individual employee, which is generally an employment contract between the entity and a selected officer or key employee containing a promise by the employer to pay certain amounts at designated future dates, usually including a period after retirement, upon compliance with stipulated requirements. This type of arrangement is distinguished from broader based employee benefit plans as it is usually tailored to the employee. Disclosure also typically includes the amount of related compensation expense recognized during the reporting period, the number of shares (units) issued during the period under such arrangements, and the carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of the related liability.

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