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Debt (Schedule of Allowable Dividends) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014
Green Plains Holdings II [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Allowable dividends as percentage of net profit before tax	40.00%gpre_AllowableDividendsAsPercentageOfNetProfitBeforeTax / dei_LegalEntityAxis = gpre_GreenPlainsHoldingsTwoMember
Working Capital Threshold For Unlimited Dividend Distributions	$ 20.0gpre_WorkingCapitalThresholdForUnlimitedDividendDistributions / dei_LegalEntityAxis = gpre_GreenPlainsHoldingsTwoMember
Green Plains Obion [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Allowable dividends as percentage of net profit before tax	40.00%gpre_AllowableDividendsAsPercentageOfNetProfitBeforeTax / dei_LegalEntityAxis = gpre_GreenPlainsObionMember
Working Capital Threshold For Unlimited Dividend Distributions	$ 15.0gpre_WorkingCapitalThresholdForUnlimitedDividendDistributions / dei_LegalEntityAxis = gpre_GreenPlainsObionMember
Green Plains Superior [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Allowable dividends as percentage of net profit before tax	40.00%gpre_AllowableDividendsAsPercentageOfNetProfitBeforeTax / dei_LegalEntityAxis = gpre_GreenPlainsSuperiorMember

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