Segment Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2011	Oct. 01, 2011	Sep. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 28, 2012 PS International North Carolina	Apr. 03, 2010 PS International North Carolina	Oct. 01, 2011 Butterball, LLC Term loan	Sep. 29, 2012 Butterball, LLC Term loan	Sep. 29, 2012 Butterball, LLC Long-term note receivable	Sep. 29, 2012 EDM	Oct. 01, 2011 Mexico ham boning and processing plant	Sep. 29, 2012 Mexico ham boning and processing plant	Apr. 02, 2011 Commodity Trading and Milling	Mar. 31, 2012 Power	Sep. 29, 2012 Power MW	Apr. 20, 2011 Power EDM facility MW	Oct. 01, 2011 Power EDN and EDM	Jul. 02, 2011 Power EDN and EDM	Apr. 08, 2011 Power EDN and EDM facility	Sep. 29, 2012 Turkey Butterball, LLC	Oct. 01, 2011 Turkey Butterball, LLC	Sep. 29, 2012 Turkey Butterball, LLC	Oct. 01, 2011 Turkey Butterball, LLC	Dec. 31, 2011 Turkey Butterball, LLC
Segment Information
Period of operations											2 years
Impairment charge		$ 5,600,000									$ 5,600,000
Impairment charge attributable to noncontrolling interest											1,830,000
Impact of impairment charges on net earnings attributable to parent, net of tax											2,300,000
Net book value of assets			828,137,000	796,822,000								3,686,000
Payment to increase ownership interest in affiliate					3,660,000
Percentage ownership acquired						50.00%
Ownership after increase (as a percent)					70.00%
Net sales													101,080,000
Number of floating power generating facilities sold																			2
Gain on sale of assets	1,500,000	52,923,000															1,500,000	51,423,000
Additional deposit into escrow																	1,500,000
Number of floating power generating facilties leased																1
Capacity of EDM leased (in megawatts)																72
Portion of sales price remaining in escrow										1,500,000
Capacity of floating power generating facility newly constructed (in megawatts)															106
Total project costs capitalized to date														136,000,000
Net sales																				369,949,000	371,505,000	973,988,000	942,776,000
Operating income																				7,554,000	1,249,000	48,686,000	16,155,000
Total assets																				933,738,000		933,738,000		819,618,000
Proportionate share of impairment of fixed assets charge and accrued severance charges																					2,622,000		2,622,000
Notes receivable from affiliate			118,510,000	110,903,000				9,071,000	109,440,000
Loan provided to affiliate							$ 13,037,000
Interest rate on loan provided (as a percent)								12.00%