Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Net income attributable to The Andersons, Inc.	$ (47,029)	$ (1,227)	$ 31,092	$ 4,097	$ 25,892	$ 16,825	$ 44,301	$ 22,708	$ (13,067)	$ 109,726	$ 89,939
Less: Distributed and undistributed earnings allocated to non-vested restricted stock									29	569	357
Earnings available to common shareholders									$ (13,096)	$ 109,157	$ 89,582
Earnings per share – basic:
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic									28,288,000	28,367,000	27,986,000
Earnings per share-basic (in dollars per share)	$ (1.68)	$ (0.04)	$ 1.09	$ 0.14	$ 0.89	$ 0.59	$ 1.56	$ 0.80	$ (0.46)	$ 3.85	$ 3.20
Earnings per share – diluted:
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic									28,288,000	28,367,000	27,986,000
Effect of dilutive awards (shares)									0	85,000	200,000
Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted									28,288,000	28,452,000	28,186,000
Earnings per share-diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (1.68)	$ (0.04)	$ 1.09	$ 0.14	$ 0.89	$ 0.59	$ 1.56	$ 0.80	$ (0.46)	$ 3.84	$ 3.18
Earnings Per Share (Textual) [Abstract]
Antidilutive stock-based awards outstanding (shares)										0	0