Commitments And Contingencies (Policy)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract]

Lease And Purchase Obligations

Lease and Purchase Obligations — We lease certain property, plant and equipment used in our operations under both capital and operating lease agreements. Such leases, which are primarily for machinery, equipment and vehicles, have lease terms ranging from one to 20 years. We did not have any material capital lease obligations as of December 31, 2011 or 2010. Certain of the operating lease agreements require the payment of additional rentals for maintenance, along with additional rentals based on miles driven or units produced. Certain leases require us to guarantee a minimum value of the leased asset at the end of the lease. Our maximum exposure under those guarantees is not a material amount. Rent expense was $145.1 million, $158.5 million and $158.4 million for 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Future minimum payments at December 31, 2011, under non-cancelable operating leases with terms in excess of one year are summarized below:

	Operating Leases
	(In thousands)
2012	$	108,915
2013		85,701
2014		67,225
2015		50,219
2016		29,335
Thereafter		89,534
Total minimum lease payments	$	430,929

We have entered into various contracts, in the normal course of business, obligating us to purchase minimum quantities of raw materials used in our production and distribution processes, including diesel fuel, soybeans and organic raw milk. We enter into these contracts from time to time to ensure a sufficient supply of raw ingredients. In addition, we have contractual obligations to purchase various services that are part of our production process.