Debt (Details Textual) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended											12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended								3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 07, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 Green Plains Grain Company	Dec. 31, 2012 Secured debt	Dec. 31, 2012 Recourse	Dec. 31, 2011 Recourse	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonrecourse	Dec. 31, 2011 Nonrecourse	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonrecourse December 31 2013	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonrecourse December 31 2014	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonrecourse December 31 2015	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior note payable, 5.52%, payable at maturity, due 2017	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior note payable, 5.52%, payable at maturity, due 2017	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior note payable, 5.52%, payable at maturity, due 2017 March 2013	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior note payable, 5.52%, payable at maturity, due 2017 Recourse	Dec. 31, 2012 Ten year loan with fixed interest rate Of 2.71% Loans Payable	Dec. 31, 2012 Variable rate note due in 2015 Notes payable	Dec. 31, 2012 Five year term debenture bonds Recourse Available-for-sale Securities	Dec. 31, 2012 Ten year term debenture bonds Recourse Available-for-sale Securities	Dec. 31, 2012 15 year loan with fixed interest rate of 4.8% Secured debt	Dec. 31, 2012 15 year loan with fixed interest rate of 4.8% Recourse Available-for-sale Securities	Dec. 07, 2011 Short-term	Dec. 31, 2012 Short-term Line A	Dec. 31, 2012 Short-term Line B	Dec. 07, 2011 Long-term	Dec. 31, 2012 Long Term Line Of Credit	Jun. 30, 2012 Long Term Line Of Credit	Dec. 31, 2012 Standby letters of credit	Dec. 31, 2012 Standby letters of credit The Andersons Denison Ethanol LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 Line of credit Short Term Line Of Credit The Andersons Denison Ethanol LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 Line of credit Long Term Line Of Credit The Andersons Denison Ethanol LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 Nonrecourse The Andersons Denison Ethanol LLC	Jun. 30, 2012 Nonrecourse The Andersons Denison Ethanol LLC
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit facility	$ 24,219,000	$ 71,500,000		$ 90,000,000			$ 20,000,000	$ 71,500,000	$ 4,219,000	$ 0														$ 735,000,000			$ 115,000,000					$ 4,200,000
Standby letters of credit outstanding																														30,100,000	800,000
Amount outstanding																									20,000,000	25,000,000							9,400,000
Period of borrowings draw down under line of credit	90 days
Total borrowing capacity under lines of credit																																13,000,000	15,100,000		28,100,000
Notes and Loans Payable																																		12,400,000
Additional borrowings																												50,000,000	55,000,000
Secured loan						19,300,000																55,300,000
Interest rate of debt instruments						3.29%										3.72%	5.52%	2.71%				4.80%
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																		24,200,000	12,100,000
Loan term	15 years																	10 years		5 years	10 years	15 years	15 years
Long term debt							419,825,000	270,139,000	22,563,000	954,000				25,000,000	25,000,000
Loan assumed in conjunction with acquisition					27,800,000
Debenture bond bearing interest percentage																				2.65%	3.50%		4.50%
Debenture bond bearing interest Amount																				7,500,000	5,600,000		5,200,000
Minimum tangible net worth							300,000,000		27,000,000		33,000,000	36,000,000	40,000,000
Current ratio net of hedged inventory minimum							125.00%
Debt to capitalized ratio maximum							70.00%
Asset coverage ratio minimum							75.00%
Interest coverage ratio maximum							275.00%
Aggregate annual maturities of long term debt, 2013							12,600,000		2,500,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long term debt, 2014							40,200,000		3,700,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long term debt, 2015							104,600,000		3,100,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long term debt, 2016							23,000,000		3,100,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long term debt, Year Five							46,400,000		800,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long term debt there after							193,000,000		9,400,000
Working capital									5,000,000		8,000,000
Debt service coverage ratio									1.25
Interest paid	$ 21,700,000	$ 25,200,000	$ 20,000,000