Document and Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 28, 2013	Mar. 03, 2014 Common Stock, Class A Voting [Member]	Mar. 03, 2014 Common stock, Class B Voting [Member]	Mar. 03, 2014 Common stock, Class C Non-Voting [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	FEDERAL AGRICULTURAL MORTGAGE CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000845877
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	false
Trading Symbol	AGM
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			1,030,780	500,301	9,354,992
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float		$ 291,572,715