Document And Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Nov. 05, 2018
Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Central Index Key	0000007084
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Registrant Name	ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND CO
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		560,644,375