ACQUISITIONS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Sep. 28, 2013	Sep. 28, 2013	Sep. 27, 2014	Dec. 28, 2013	Sep. 27, 2014 DS SM, Locker, and Armorflex acquisitions	Sep. 27, 2014 DS SM, Locker, and Armorflex acquisitions	Mar. 03, 2014 Valmont SM item	Sep. 27, 2014 Valmont SM	Sep. 27, 2014 Valmont SM	Feb. 05, 2013 Locker	Sep. 27, 2014 Locker	Sep. 27, 2014 Locker	Sep. 28, 2013 Locker	Feb. 05, 2013 Locker Maximum	Dec. 28, 2013 Armorflex International Ltd.	Aug. 25, 2014 AgSense	Sep. 27, 2014 AgSense
Acquisitions
Ownership percentage acquired							90.00%			100.00%					100.00%	51.00%	51.00%
Annual sales							$ 190,000,000
Number of manufacturing locations operated							2
Cash acquired							56,000			116,000
Cash paid for acquisition							120,483,000			53,152,000					10,000,000	17,000,000
Fair value of contingent consideration							0			7,178,000				7,911,000
Payments made to sellers upon achievement of certain targets												2,300,000	2,300,000
Reversal of liability											4,300,000
Goodwill			374,144,000	349,632,000			14,317,000								6,823,000	17,343,000
Customer relationships, trade name and other intangible assets																13,510,000
Fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed
Current assets							73,421,000
Property, plant and equipment							85,645,000
Intangible assets							30,340,000								3,792,000
Goodwill			374,144,000	349,632,000			14,317,000								6,823,000	17,343,000
Total fair value of assets acquired							203,723,000
Current liabilities							50,953,000
Deferred income taxes							14,114,000
Intercompany note payable							37,448,000
Long-term debt							8,941,000
Total fair value of liabilities assumed							111,456,000
Non-controlling interests							9,232,000
Net assets acquired							83,035,000
Net sales and net earnings included in Consolidated Statements of Earnings
Net sales included in Consolidated Statements of Earnings					64,838,000	168,891,000		41,284,000	105,805,000
Net earnings included in Consolidated Statements of Earnings					8,185,000	13,760,000		2,466,000	6,568,000
Period at the end of which contingent consideration is to be paid										2 years
Pro forma results of operations
Net sales	827,374,000	2,630,881,000
Net earnings	$ 60,549,000	$ 233,437,000
Earnings per share-diluted	$ 2.25	$ 8.68