Revenue (Impact of New Revenue Guidance on Financial Statements) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Balance Sheet
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash	$ 22,593								$ 22,593
Accounts receivable, net	207,285				$ 183,238				207,285	$ 183,238
Inventories	690,804				648,703				690,804	648,703
Commodity derivative assets - current	51,421				30,702				51,421	30,702
Other current assets	51,095								51,095
Other noncurrent assets	370,309				355,023				370,309	355,023
Rail Group assets leased to others, net	521,785				423,443				521,785	423,443
Property, plant and equipment, net	476,711				384,677				476,711	384,677
Identifiable assets	2,392,003				2,162,354				2,392,003	2,162,354
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	226,589								226,589
Trade and other payables and accrued expenses and other current liabilities	541,581								541,581
Commodity derivative liabilities - current	32,647				29,651				32,647	29,651
Customer prepayments and deferred revenue	32,533				59,710				32,533	59,710
Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent and Other long-term liabilities	33,073								33,073
Employee benefit plan obligations	22,542				26,716				22,542	26,716
Long-term debt, less current maturities	496,187				418,339				496,187	418,339
Deferred income taxes	130,087								130,087
Total liabilities	1,515,239				1,339,455				1,515,239	1,339,455
Retained earnings	647,517				633,496				647,517	633,496
Common shares, additional paid-in-capital, treasury shares, accumulated other comprehensive loss and noncontrolling interests	229,247								229,247
Noncontrolling interests	876,764				822,899				876,764	822,899	$ 790,697	$ 783,739
Total liabilities and equity	2,392,003				2,162,354				2,392,003	2,162,354
Income Statement Related Disclosures [Abstract]
Sales and merchandising revenues	812,662	$ 685,579	$ 911,402	$ 635,739	1,004,072	$ 836,595	$ 993,662	$ 852,016	3,045,382	3,686,345	3,924,790
Cost of sales and merchandising revenues									2,743,377	3,367,546	3,579,284
Gross profit	93,962	53,864	90,474	63,705	84,836	69,671	87,834	76,458	302,005	318,799	345,506
Operating, administrative and general expenses									257,872	286,993	316,093
Asset impairment									6,272
Interest expense (income)									27,848	21,567	21,119
Equity in earnings of affiliates, net									27,141	16,723	9,721
Other income, net									16,002	22,507	12,473
Income (loss) before income taxes									53,156	(20,525)	21,381
Income tax provision									11,931	(63,134)	6,911
Net income (loss)									41,225	42,609	14,470
Net income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interests									(259)	98	2,876
Net income (loss) attributable to The Andersons, Inc.	23,753	$ (2,098)	$ 21,529	$ (1,700)	$ 69,720	$ 2,533	$ (26,653)	$ (3,089)	41,484	$ 42,511	$ 11,594
ASC 606 Impact | Revenues under ASC 606
Balance Sheet
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash	0								0
Accounts receivable, net	0								0
Inventories	74								74
Commodity derivative assets - current	0								0
Other current assets	(114)								(114)
Other noncurrent assets	0								0
Rail Group assets leased to others, net	(22,709)								(22,709)
Property, plant and equipment, net	0								0
Identifiable assets	(22,749)								(22,749)
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	(4,842)								(4,842)
Trade and other payables and accrued expenses and other current liabilities	0								0
Commodity derivative liabilities - current	0								0
Customer prepayments and deferred revenue	0								0
Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent and Other long-term liabilities	0								0
Employee benefit plan obligations	0								0
Long-term debt, less current maturities	(29,177)								(29,177)
Deferred income taxes	3,492								3,492
Total liabilities	(30,527)								(30,527)
Retained earnings	7,778								7,778
Common shares, additional paid-in-capital, treasury shares, accumulated other comprehensive loss and noncontrolling interests	0								0
Noncontrolling interests	7,778								7,778
Total liabilities and equity	(22,749)								(22,749)
Income Statement Related Disclosures [Abstract]
Sales and merchandising revenues									701,437
Cost of sales and merchandising revenues									703,358
Gross profit									(1,921)
Operating, administrative and general expenses									0
Asset impairment									0
Interest expense (income)									(1,563)
Equity in earnings of affiliates, net									0
Other income, net									0
Income (loss) before income taxes									(358)
Income tax provision									(89)
Net income (loss)									(269)
Net income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interests									0
Net income (loss) attributable to The Andersons, Inc.									(269)
Pro forma as if the previous accounting guidance was in effect
Balance Sheet
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash	22,593								22,593
Accounts receivable, net	207,285								207,285
Inventories	690,878								690,878
Commodity derivative assets - current	51,421								51,421
Other current assets	50,981								50,981
Other noncurrent assets	370,309								370,309
Rail Group assets leased to others, net	499,076								499,076
Property, plant and equipment, net	476,711								476,711
Identifiable assets	2,369,254								2,369,254
Short-term debt and current maturities of long-term debt	221,747								221,747
Trade and other payables and accrued expenses and other current liabilities	541,581								541,581
Commodity derivative liabilities - current	32,647								32,647
Customer prepayments and deferred revenue	32,533								32,533
Commodity derivative liabilities - noncurrent and Other long-term liabilities	33,073								33,073
Employee benefit plan obligations	22,542								22,542
Long-term debt, less current maturities	467,010								467,010
Deferred income taxes	133,579								133,579
Total liabilities	1,484,712								1,484,712
Retained earnings	655,295								655,295
Common shares, additional paid-in-capital, treasury shares, accumulated other comprehensive loss and noncontrolling interests	229,247								229,247
Noncontrolling interests	884,542								884,542
Total liabilities and equity	$ 2,369,254								2,369,254
Income Statement Related Disclosures [Abstract]
Sales and merchandising revenues									3,746,819
Cost of sales and merchandising revenues									3,446,735
Gross profit									300,084
Operating, administrative and general expenses									257,872
Asset impairment									6,272
Interest expense (income)									26,285
Equity in earnings of affiliates, net									27,141
Other income, net									16,002
Income (loss) before income taxes									52,798
Income tax provision									11,842
Net income (loss)									40,956
Net income (loss) attributable to the noncontrolling interests									(259)
Net income (loss) attributable to The Andersons, Inc.									41,215
Pro forma as if the previous accounting guidance was in effect | Revenues under ASC 606
Income Statement Related Disclosures [Abstract]
Sales and merchandising revenues									$ 688,300