Revolving Line of Credit Line of Credit (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2013	Oct. 31, 2012
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Shuttlewagon Railcar Mover Loan	$ 412,013	$ 497,636
Long-term Debt	29,868,598	5,389,588
Long-term Debt, Current Maturities	(3,329,924)	(114,718)
Long-Term Debt, less current portion	26,538,674	5,274,870
Line of Credit Future Reduction, Amount	1,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate Description	"One Month LIBOR Index Rate," plus 2.65% and 2.9%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount	337,928
Notes Assumed	5,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Notes Payable and Long-term Debt	4,024,500
Note Assumed [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Sep. 23, 2013
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	399.00%
Subsequent Event, Date	Aug. 19, 2013
Notes Payable, Other Payables [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	400.00%
Subsequent Event, Date	Aug. 26, 2013
Shuttlewagon Railcar Mover [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
LOC Term	5
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage Rate Range, Maximum	3.875%
Revolving Operating Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	2.65%
Long-term Debt	6,000,000
Revolving Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	2.90%
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding	4,375,970	4,891,952
Long-term Debt	8,000,000
Revolving Operating Loan, Net [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term Debt	5,662,000
Heron Lake Bioenergy [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	3.50%
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding	10,650,377
Notes Payable to Bank	18,505,863	0
Notes Payable	(36,452,764)
Convertible Subordinated Debt	1,407,000	0
Line of Credit Future Reduction, Amount	2,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage Rate Range, Maximum	5.00%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate Terms	LIBOR plus 3.50% but not less than 5.00%
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate Description	LIBOR
Line of Credit Facility, Unused Capacity, Commitment Fee Percentage	0.35%
Liabilities, Fair Value Adjustment	722,000
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity	9,800,000
Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date	Sep. 01, 2016
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Effective Interest Rate	7.25%
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price	$ 0.30
Agrinatural, LLC [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes Payable	1,123,064
AgStar [Member] | Heron Lake Bioenergy [Member] | Fixed Term Note [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate Description	LIBOR plus 3.50% but not less than 5%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	5.75%
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity	17,400,000
Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date	Sep. 01, 2016
Line of Credit Facility, Excess Cash Flow Payment, Percentage	25.00%
Line of Credit Facility, Excess Cash Flow Payment	2,000,000
City/County Juristiction [Member] | Heron Lake Bioenergy [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes Payable	2,981,353	0
Federated Electric [Member] | Heron Lake Bioenergy [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes Payable	312,500	0
SRS [Member] | Heron Lake Bioenergy [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Notes Payable	$ 750,835	$ 0