Revenues Revenues (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jan. 01, 2018	Dec. 31, 2015
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 15,947	$ 15,800	$ 17,068	$ 15,526	$ 16,070	$ 14,827	$ 14,943	$ 14,988	$ 64,341	$ 60,828	$ 62,346
Contract with Customer, Liability [Abstract]
Contract with Customer, Liability	501				519				501	519		$ 519
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized									647
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Accounts Receivable, Net, Current	2,233				1,947				2,233	1,947		2,343
Stockholders' Equity, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	18,996				18,322				18,996	18,322	17,181	18,322	$ 17,915
Reinvested earnings	18,527				17,552				18,527	17,552		17,552
Liabilities, Current	11,776				12,570				11,776	12,570		12,563
Other Liabilities, Current	2,913				2,833				2,913	2,833		2,826
Assets	40,833				39,963				40,833	39,963		39,956
Assets, Current	20,588				19,925				20,588	19,925		19,918
Other Assets, Current	3,033				3,175				3,033	3,175		3,175
Inventories	8,813				9,173				8,813	9,173		8,770
Liabilities and Equity	40,833				39,963				40,833	39,963		$ 39,956
Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									25,060	24,124	25,746
Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									24,831	22,388	21,954
Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									10,279	10,406	10,715
Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,790	3,523	3,523
Other Segments [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									381
Merchandising and handling [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									24,816	23,915	25,522
Transportation [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									244	209	224
Crushing and origination [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									16,943	14,171	14,034
Refining, packaging, biodiesel, and other [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									7,888	8,217	7,920
Starches and sweeteners [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									6,696	6,565	6,413
Bioproducts [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,583	3,841	4,302
Wild and Specialty Ingredients [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,571	2,367	2,466
Animal Nutrition [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									1,219	1,156	1,057
Operating Segments [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									29,622	28,300	29,812
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Assets	8,461				8,311				8,461	8,311
Operating Segments [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									29,092	26,424	25,235
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Assets	12,195				11,992				12,195	11,992
Operating Segments [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									11,421	11,314	11,549
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Assets	5,895				6,085				5,895	6,085
Operating Segments [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,835	3,562	3,540
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Assets	7,158				5,568				7,158	5,568
Operating Segments [Member] | Other Segments [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									381	387	$ 408
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Assets	5,131				$ 5,658				5,131	$ 5,658
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Accounts Receivable, Net, Current	244								244
Stockholders' Equity, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(2)								(2)
Reinvested earnings	(2)								(2)
Liabilities, Current	(13)								(13)
Other Liabilities, Current	(13)								(13)
Assets	(15)								(15)
Assets, Current	(15)								(15)
Other Assets, Current	(23)								(23)
Inventories	(236)								(236)
Liabilities and Equity	(15)								(15)
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Accounts Receivable, Net, Current	1,989								1,989
Stockholders' Equity, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	18,998								18,998
Reinvested earnings	18,529								18,529
Liabilities, Current	11,789								11,789
Other Liabilities, Current	2,926								2,926
Assets	40,848								40,848
Assets, Current	20,603								20,603
Other Assets, Current	3,056								3,056
Inventories	9,049								9,049
Liabilities and Equity	$ 40,848								40,848
ASU Topic 606 [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									17,774
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									17,293
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Transferred over Time [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									481
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,663
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,456
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									8,484
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,790
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Other Segments [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									381
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,182
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,456
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									8,484
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,790
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Other Segments [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									381
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transferred over Time [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									481
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Merchandising and handling [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,419
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Merchandising and handling [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,182
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Merchandising and handling [Member] | Transferred over Time [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									237
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transportation [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									244
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Transportation [Member] | Transferred over Time [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									244
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Crushing and origination [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									664
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Crushing and origination [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									664
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Refining, packaging, biodiesel, and other [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									1,792
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Refining, packaging, biodiesel, and other [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									1,792
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Starches and sweeteners [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									4,901
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Starches and sweeteners [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									4,901
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Bioproducts [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,583
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Bioproducts [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									3,583
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Wild and Specialty Ingredients [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,571
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Wild and Specialty Ingredients [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									2,571
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Animal Nutrition [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									1,219
ASU Topic 606 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Animal Nutrition [Member] | Transferred at Point in Time [Member] | Nutrition [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									1,219
ASU Topic 815 [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									46,567
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									22,397
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									22,375
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									1,795
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Merchandising and handling [Member] | Origination [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									22,397
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Crushing and origination [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									16,279
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Refining, packaging, biodiesel, and other [Member] | Oilseeds [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									6,096
ASU Topic 815 [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Starches and sweeteners [Member] | Carbohydrate Solutions [Member]
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenues									$ 1,795