Yes, you read the headline correctly. Pecan thieves are roaming the fields of Georgia.

Hired by farmers as a private security guard, Brooks Rucker patrols thousands of acres of Georgia farmland on the lookout for thieves toting 5-gallon buckets.

He rarely comes up empty-handed. Since the fall harvest began Oct. 1, Rucker says, he and two other guards have caught more than 160 culprits in the act. Some they let go. Others get handed over to police. Either way, he’s recovered thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen goods: mounds of pecans.

“It’s an all-day hassle trying to keep these folks out,” said Rucker. “You’ll pull into a pecan grove and they’ll have a 10-foot extension ladder trying to shake the pecans loose.”

It’s not just pecan pies and other nutty goodies driving demand so close to the holidays. Prices have soared as China has developed an insatiable appetite for pecans, while withering drought in the southern U.S. has limited supplies.

In Georgia, the nation’s top pecan producer, farmers and authorities say criminals can earn a tidy profit by stealing the nuts — worth $1.50 or more per pound in smaller quantities. Pecan grower Bucky Geer estimates a single 5-gallon bucketful is worth about $38.

“Some of these pecans are approaching a nickel in value apiece,” said Geer.

Whodathunkit???