Business Acquisitions Business Acquisition (Details Textual) (USD $)				3 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 Green Plains Grain Company	Dec. 03, 2012 Green Plains Grain Company bu T	Jan. 31, 2012 New Eezy Gro Inc	May 01, 2012 Amaizing Energy Denison LLC gal bu	Oct. 30, 2012 Mt Pulaski
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total Purchase price					$ 120,200,000			$ 10,700,000
Payable to acquiree					3,300,000
Grain storage capacity					32,000,000
Nutrient storage capacity					12,000
Property, plant and equipment decrease				135,000
Intangible asset decrease				2,600,000
Other liabilities and equity increase				235,000
Goodwill increase				3,000,000
Goodwill	54,387,000	51,418,000	19,226,000		33,175,000			1,985,000
Percentage of stock purchased						100.00%
Purchase price						16,800,000
Goodwill						6,681,000
Purchase price						16,777,000	77,400,000
Capacity of ethanol facility							55,000,000
Capacity of grain terminal							2,700,000
Controllling interest percentage							85.00%
Fair value of noncontrolling interest							$ 6,100,000