SEGMENT REPORTING (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended																	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Real Estate Operations	Dec. 31, 2010 Real Estate Operations	Dec. 31, 2009 Real Estate Operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Water Resource and Water Storage Operations	Dec. 31, 2010 Water Resource and Water Storage Operations	Dec. 31, 2009 Water Resource and Water Storage Operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate	Dec. 31, 2010 Corporate	Dec. 31, 2009 Corporate	Dec. 31, 2011 Insurance Operations in Run Off	Dec. 31, 2010 Insurance Operations in Run Off	Dec. 31, 2009 Insurance Operations in Run Off	Dec. 31, 2011 Agribusiness Operations	Dec. 31, 2010 Agribusiness Operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Nevada Land and Resource Company	Dec. 31, 2011 Northstar T	Dec. 31, 2011 Spigit	Dec. 31, 2010 Spigit	Dec. 31, 2009 Spigit
Segment Reporting, Asset Reconciling Item
Sales of Real Estate																		$ 31,000,000
Percent ownership of equity method investment																			88.00%	30.00%	37.00%	50.00%
Plant, Crushing Capacity per Day																			1,000
Plant, Potential Crushing Capacity per Day																			1,500
Assets	684,151,000	692,502,000	687,617,000	131,788,000	146,897,000	149,217,000	207,385,000	226,496,000	207,565,000	134,266,000	125,789,000	215,960,000	88,048,000	114,872,000	114,875,000	122,664,000	78,448,000
Increase (decrease) in other operating assets	2,309,000	(839,000)	685,000
Plant, Estimated Cost to Construct Additional Capacity																			$ 10,500,000