A system comprising a mobile machine for collecting a plurality of bales dispersed across a ground surface, and one or more computing devices. The one or more computing devices are configured to receive location and orientation information for the plurality of bales, the location and orientation information including a location and an orientation of each of the bales, using the location and orientation information, automatically determine a preferred bale stacking location and a preferred path for collecting the bales, the preferred path for collecting the bales including placing the bales in the preferred stacking location, and present information about the preferred path to an operator of the machine.