CONTINGENCIES	3 Months Ended
Jul. 29, 2012
Loss Contingency [Abstract]
CONTINGENCIES	CONTINGENCIES Litigation Other than the following matters, there have been no significant developments regarding litigation disclosed in Note 16 of our Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 29, 2012, nor have any significant new matters arisen during the three months ended July 29, 2012. Missouri Litigation Premium Standard Farms, Inc. (PSF), the Company and certain of our other subsidiaries are parties to litigation in Missouri involving a number of claims alleging that hog farms owned or under contract with the defendants interfered with the plaintiffs' use and enjoyment of their properties. During fiscal 2012 and continuing in fiscal 2013, we engaged in global settlement negotiations with counsel representing nearly all of the plaintiffs in the nuisance litigation and numerous carriers of commercial general liability and pollution liability policies. The parties to the litigation have reached an agreement and consummated a global settlement that resolves substantially all of the nuisance litigation. Pursuant to the agreement, all pending cases previously disclosed, with one minor exception, will be dismissed with prejudice. In addition, we have agreements with the insurance carriers under which we receive payments that we contribute to pay a portion of the settlement, most of which were contingent on the consummation of the global settlement. Our policy for establishing accruals and disclosures for contingent liabilities is contained in Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 29, 2012. We established an accrual with respect to the Missouri nuisance suits on the opening balance sheet for our acquisition of PSF in fiscal 2008 and we have periodically adjusted that accrual as developments have occurred. The accrual, as adjusted from time to time, represents our best estimate of the probable loss for these suits. The global settlement, which was consummated after the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2013, is not materially different than the accrual we maintained for the settled litigation and, therefore, will not materially affect our profits or losses in future periods. Payments made by us under the global settlement and payments we receive from the insurance carriers will impact our cash flows for future periods; however, such impact is not expected to be material to our overall financial position or liquidity.

CONTINGENCIES

3 Months Ended

Jul. 29, 2012

Litigation

Other than the following matters, there have been no significant developments regarding litigation disclosed in Note 16 of our Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 29, 2012, nor have any significant new matters arisen during the three months ended July 29, 2012.

Missouri Litigation

Premium Standard Farms, Inc. (PSF), the Company and certain of our other subsidiaries are parties to litigation in Missouri involving a number of claims alleging that hog farms owned or under contract with the defendants interfered with the plaintiffs' use and enjoyment of their properties.

During fiscal 2012 and continuing in fiscal 2013, we engaged in global settlement negotiations with counsel representing nearly all of the plaintiffs in the nuisance litigation and numerous carriers of commercial general liability and pollution liability policies. The parties to the litigation have reached an agreement and consummated a global settlement that resolves substantially all of the nuisance litigation. Pursuant to the agreement, all pending cases previously disclosed, with one minor exception, will be dismissed with prejudice. In addition, we have agreements with the insurance carriers under which we receive payments that we contribute to pay a portion of the settlement, most of which were contingent on the consummation of the global settlement.

Our policy for establishing accruals and disclosures for contingent liabilities is contained in Note 1—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 29, 2012. We established an accrual with respect to the Missouri nuisance suits on the opening balance sheet for our acquisition of PSF in fiscal 2008 and we have periodically adjusted that accrual as developments have occurred. The accrual, as adjusted from time to time, represents our best estimate of the probable loss for these suits.

The global settlement, which was consummated after the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2013, is not materially different than the accrual we maintained for the settled litigation and, therefore, will not materially affect our profits or losses in future periods. Payments made by us under the global settlement and payments we receive from the insurance carriers will impact our cash flows for future periods; however, such impact is not expected to be material to our overall financial position or liquidity.