Disclosed is a large round bale (100) wrapped with a protective covering for permitting it to be stored outside. The covering is constructed of one or more layers of semipermeable material (52). It is possible for an additional layer to be added to a region of the baler (100) to be placed on the ground during storage, this additional layer resulting in the covering becoming essentially non-permeable in the region of the additional layer. A baler (10) for applying the covering to a bale (100) is disclosed together with a device for placing a visual marker (76) on the bale (100) so as to aid a person handling a discharged bale (100) in knowing where the region covered with the additional layer of material (52) is located so that this region may be manipulated into ground contact for storage. <;IMAGE>;