An agricultural baler, comprising: a pre-compression chamber having an outlet; a main bale chamber adapted to receive crop from the pre-compression chamber; a plunger reciprocally disposed within the main bale chamber, the plunger including a plurality of plunger slots which are structured and arranged to allow a plurality of needles to intermittently pass there through; a plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) which is able to provide a dual functionality of 1) cleaning the plunger slots, and 2) opening and closing the outlet of the pre-compression chamber, the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) includes a plurality of cleaning elements (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) mounted intermittently along an edge of the pre-compression chamber outlet, each said cleaning element (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) being associated with a respective said plunger slot, and the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) is pivotally mounted adjacent to a floor of the main bale chamber adjacent to the pre-compression chamber outlet and is movable between two orientations, including: a first orientation wherein the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) cleans the plunger slots and opens the outlet of the pre-compression chamber; and a second orientation wherein the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) cleans the plunger slots and closes the outlet of the pre-compression chamber, characterized in that the movement of the plunger within the main bale chamber causes movement of the plurality of cleaning elements (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) between the first orientation and the second orientation, or vice versa. a pre-compression chamber having an outlet; a main bale chamber adapted to receive crop from the pre-compression chamber; a plunger reciprocally disposed within the main bale chamber, the plunger including a plurality of plunger slots which are structured and arranged to allow a plurality of needles to intermittently pass there through; a plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) which is able to provide a dual functionality of 1) cleaning the plunger slots, and 2) opening and closing the outlet of the pre-compression chamber, the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) includes a plurality of cleaning elements (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) mounted intermittently along an edge of the pre-compression chamber outlet, each said cleaning element (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) being associated with a respective said plunger slot, and the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) is pivotally mounted adjacent to a floor of the main bale chamber adjacent to the pre-compression chamber outlet and is movable between two orientations, including: a first orientation wherein the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) cleans the plunger slots and opens the outlet of the pre-compression chamber; and a second orientation wherein the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) cleans the plunger slots and closes the outlet of the pre-compression chamber, characterized in that the movement of the plunger within the main bale chamber causes movement of the plurality of cleaning elements (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) between the first orientation and the second orientation, or vice versa. a first orientation wherein the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) cleans the plunger slots and opens the outlet of the pre-compression chamber; and a second orientation wherein the plunger cleaner (70, 90, 110, 130, 150) cleans the plunger slots and closes the outlet of the pre-compression chamber, characterized in that the movement of the plunger within the main bale chamber causes movement of the plurality of cleaning elements (76, 92, 112, 132, 152) between the first orientation and the second orientation, or vice versa.