SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 28, 2013

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Schedule of Inventory, Current [Table Text Block]

Inventories consist of the following:

	April 28, 2013		April 29, 2012
	(in millions)
Livestock	$	1,113.5	$	962.8
Fresh and packaged meats	960.8		912.1
Grains	162.0		90.4
Manufacturing supplies	57.7		59.1
Other	54.3		48.0
Total inventories	$	2,348.3	$	2,072.4

Property, Plant and Equipment [Table Text Block]

Property, plant and equipment, net, consists of the following:

	Useful Life	April 28, 2013			April 29, 2012
	(in Years)	(in millions)
Land and improvements	0-20	$	276.1		$	268.9
Buildings and improvements	20-40	1,788.6			1,690.6
Machinery and equipment	5-25	1,862.7			1,780.6
Breeding stock	2	186.7			182.1
Computer hardware and software	3-5	156.1			148.4
Other	3-10	94.4			89.1
Construction in progress		105.5			110.2
		4,470.1			4,269.9
Accumulated depreciation		(2,171.7		)	(1,992.7		)
Property, plant and equipment, net		$	2,298.4		$	2,277.2

Schedule of Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Table Text Block]

Intangible assets consist of the following:

	Useful Life	April 28, 2013			April 29, 2012
	(in Years)	(in millions)
Amortized intangible assets:
Customer relations assets	15-16	$	23.0		$	13.3
Patents, rights and leasehold interests	5-25	14.3			11.8
Contractual relationships	22	33.1			33.1
Accumulated amortization		(25.7		)	(22.6		)
Amortized intangible assets, net		44.7			35.6
Non-amortized intangible assets:
Trademarks	Indefinite	339.6			340.1
Permits	Indefinite	6.1			6.1
Intangible assets, net		$	390.4		$	381.8