Notes Payable, Long-Term Debt, Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
	Sep. 28, 2013 item	Sep. 29, 2012	Sep. 19, 2012 item	Jul. 27, 2013 Seaboard Marine item	Sep. 28, 2013 Notes payable to bank	Sep. 28, 2013 Committed bank line	Feb. 23, 2013 Committed bank line	Sep. 28, 2013 Uncommitted bank lines	Jun. 29, 2013 IDRBs	Mar. 30, 2013 IDRBs	Sep. 28, 2013 IDRBs	Dec. 31, 2012 IDRBs
Notes Payable, Long-Term Debt, Commitments and Contingencies
Number of search warrants executed authorizing the seizure of certain records from Seaboard's offices in Merriam, Kansas and at the Seaboard Foods employment office and the human resources department in Guymon, Oklahoma.			3
Number of civil or criminal proceedings or charges filed	0
Debt Instrument
Current maturities of long-term debt										$ 10,800,000		$ 13,000,000
Maximum capacity							200,000,000
Minimum net worth base requirement after debt refinancing	1,870,445,000
Percentage of consolidated net income added to net worth base amount after debt refinancing	25.00%
Base amount used to calculate maximum dividend allowed after debt refinancing	25,000,000
Sum of subsidiary indebtedness and priority indebtedness as a percentage of consolidated tangible net worth after debt refinancing, maximum	20.00%
Payments of long-term debt	29,909,000	6,050,000							10,800,000	13,000,000
Letters of credit outstanding						44,960,000		3,597,000
Letters of credit for outstanding Industrial Development Revenue Bonds											18,397,000
Letters of credit related to various insurance coverage					26,889,000
Renewal option period				5 years
Increase in terminal agreement total minimum payments over the initial term of the agreement				$ 75,600,000
Number of five-year renewal options				3