More and more in our area are going to netwrap on the bales, simply because of the time gained when baling hay. I still use twine as I find the netwrap harder to remove in the winter, especially if there has been freezing rain . Many people chop the plastic wrap with the bale processor and it goes through the cows. I am not yet convinced that all that plastic does any good to a cows guts, but many have done this for years now.
We usually don't have to worry about bales shedding water here, as you can usually leave round bales outside for many years with few problems. Last winter I decided I would clean up some old straw bales that were at least 10 years old. They looked like they were completely rotten but when they were spread with the bale processor, once the outside layer of 2-3 inches was removed, the straw was as good as the day it was baled. By the way, we have used a Highline bale processor for almost 20 years and it has yet to give us one moment of grief. When I purchased it, The salesman told me I would save about 50% on the straw I used and about 30 % on the hay. I was skeptical but after using it the first winter, I believe the savings are even more significant that I was told... especially on the straw. Prior to the bale processor, it was a 3-4 hour job for two people once or twice a week to bed the cattle. With the bale processor, one person can comfortably bed all the cattle in 1 hour and never get off the tractor, other than to open and shut gates. It will blow straw evenly right to the backs of our sheds . It used to take 3-4 bales to bed the main calving shed when we bedded by hand, now it takes 1 - 1.5 bales depending on conditions.
In regards to the Highline bale wagon, I have also used one of these on many occasions. You can pick a pile of bales in a day and it is a machine that a few neighbours can own together. I have picked as many as 450 round bales in a day with a 1 mile haul... and you can pick in the field as fast as you think is safe to ride the tractor. They are built here in Saskatchewan and they are sold to many countries around the world. There are also several other companies who make similar machines, but around these parts, the Highline seems to be the most popular.