Description of Business	12 Months Ended
Description of Business	Dec. 31, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business	Description of Business Benson Hill is a food technology company on a mission to lead the pace of innovation in food. We have a vision to build a healthier and happier world by unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants with the leading technology platform, CropOS®. Starting with consumer demand, we leverage CropOS and advanced breeding techniques to design food that’s better from the beginning: more nutritious, more flavorful, and more accessible, while enabling efficient production and delivering novel sustainability benefits to food and feed customers. We are headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, where the majority of our research and development activities are managed. We operate a soy crushing and food-grade white flake and soy flour manufacturing operation in Creston, Iowa, a soy crushing facility in Seymour, Indiana, and we process dry peas in North Dakota, which we sell throughout North America. We have an integrated go-to-market approach, leveraging the existing parts of the supply chain to create efficiencies and a feedback loop between consumers, farmers, and seed developers that has been lacking across the siloed agri-food value chain. We are working to design products with the consumer in mind, contract with farmers to grow and buy back the harvest, preserve the product identity through manufacturing, and ultimately sell food and ingredients directly to food companies, retailers, and others. We believe this integration and control of the product throughout the entire supply chain will enable us to link data to outcomes in our CropOS platform to fuel the next generation of products. Additionally, we believe this product information linkage will work to optimize environmental and social impacts, as well as traceability throughout the supply chain. We believe that our commitment to environmental and social issues impacting our planet and our purpose-driven culture are fundamental to our ability to achieve our mission. Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) principles help guide our thinking and approach throughout the development and commercialization of our products, and our innovative culture is rooted in our Core Values of Be Bold, Be Inspired and Be Real. We believe our leading technology platform, vertically integrated go-to-market strategy, and purpose-driven culture will help bridge the divide between evolving consumer preferences and quality traits already present within the genetic diversity of plants We see nature as our partner; technology as our enabler; and innovators like our company, our stakeholders, our stockholders and our partners as the catalysts to activate the change needed. We partner with farmers, ingredient companies, and plant-based food and feed customers to commercialize our proprietary innovations in soybean, and in the near future yellow pea, for broad market applications in human food ingredients, edible oils, pet food and aquafeed. In particular, our Ultra-High Protein (“UHP”) soy-based ingredients have the potential to eliminate costly water- and energy-intensive ingredient processing steps associated with producing soy protein concentrate (“SPC”) products for the food and feed markets, which can alleviate supply constraints in North America and elsewhere. Our proprietary portfolio includes soy flake, soy grits, soy meal and soy flour for established food markets such as snacks, baked goods and meat extensions, and a functional alternative to traditional SPC for plant-based protein alternatives to meat, dairy, and other emerging categories. Merger with Star Peak Corp II On September 29, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Star Peak Corp II (“STPC”), a special purpose acquisition company, consummated a merger (the “Closing”) pursuant to that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 8, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among STPC, STPC Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of STPC (“Merger Sub”), and Benson Hill, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Legacy Benson Hill”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, a business combination between STPC and Legacy Benson Hill was affected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Legacy Benson Hill, with Legacy Benson Hill surviving the transaction as a wholly owned subsidiary of STPC (the “Merger”). On the Closing Date, STPC changed its name to Benson Hill, Inc. and Legacy Benson Hill changed its name to Benson Hill Holdings, Inc. As a consequence of the Merger, we became the successor to a company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). Our future results of consolidated operations and financial position may not be comparable to historical results as a result of the Merger. Fresh Business Segment divestiture For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company made a strategic decision to exit the Fresh segment. On December 29, 2022, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement to sell J&J Produce, Inc. (“J&J”) and all of the outstanding equity securities of J&J’s subsidiaries for aggregate cash consideration of $3 million, subject to certain adjustments. J&J was the main component of the Fresh segment. The closing of the transactions contemplated by the Stock Purchase Agreement is scheduled to occur on June 30, 2023, or such other date as is mutually agreed by the parties. In connection with the Stock Purchase Agreement, on December 29, 2022, J&J entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement, pursuant to which J&J sold certain real and personal property comprising an agricultural production and processing facility located in Vero Beach, Florida to for an aggregate purchase price of $18 million, subject to certain adjustments. Certain property was leased back to J&J pursuant to a separate agricultural and facility lease for a short period of time. The Company’s strategic shift to exit the Fresh segment met the criteria to be classified as businesses held for sale and to be presented as a discontinued operation. Refer to Footnote 4 - Discontinued Operations for further details on the divestiture of the Fresh segment. Liquidity and Going Concern The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP and Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. In evaluating the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, management considered the conditions and events that could raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within 12 months after the Company’s financial statements were issued on March 16, 2023. Management considered the Company’s current financial condition and liquidity sources, including current funds available, forecasted future cash flows and the Company’s conditional and unconditional obligations due before 12 months from the issuance of the Company’s financial statements up to March 16, 2024. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company incurred a net loss from continuing operations of $99,700, had negative cash flows from operating activities of $93,396 and had capital expenditures of $16,486. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had cash and marketable securities of $157,174, restricted cash of $17,912 and positive working capital of $53,984. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2022, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $408,474 and term debt and notes payable of $106,233, which are subject to repayment terms and covenants further described in Note 14 – Debt. The Company has incurred significant losses since inception primarily to fund investment into technology and costs associated with early-stage commercialization of products. These factors, coupled with expected capital expenditures to manufacture soy flour texturization ingredients, indicated that, without further action, the Company’s forecasted cash flows would not have been sufficient for the Company to meet its contractual commitments and obligations as they came due in the ordinary course of business for 12 months after the date the consolidated financial statements were issued. During the first quarter of 2023, the Company entered into an amendment to its existing Convertible Loan and Security Agreement, which among other things, extended the interest-only period by six months through the second quarter of 2024, and allowed the restricted cash to be counted towards the required minimum liquidity covenant calculation. In addition, the Company’s liquidity plans and operating budget include further actions that management believes are probable of being achieved in the 12 months after the date the consolidated financial statements are issued. These actions include improving operating efficiencies by reducing certain operating costs and restructuring certain parts of the organization, exploring strategic options involving its Seymour, Indiana soy crush facility, supplementing cash needs by selling additional shares of its common stock, or securities convertible into common stock, to the public through its shelf registration statement, or obtaining alternative equity financing, and attempting to refinance its current high-cost debt with a conventional, lower cost, lending facility of up to $100 million. There are no guarantees that the Company will achieve any of these plans, which involve risks and uncertainties, but based on these plans and management’s forecast and related assumptions, management believes it is probable the Company will meet its obligations as they become due in the ordinary course of business for the 12 months following the date these financial statements are issued.