A bale retriever for retrieving bales (B), comprising: a chassis ; a bale pick up carried by the chassis and configured to contact and pick up a bale (B); a steering assembly carried by the chassis and configured to steer the bale retriever ; at least one sensor carried by the chassis and configured to sense at least one bale feature of the bale (B) and provide at least one bale feature signal; and a controller operatively coupled to the steering assembly and the at least one sensor , the controller being configured to: receive bale drop location information; and receive the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor ; the controller is further configured to: identify an exact bale location of the bale (B) based at least partially on the bale drop location information and the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor ; and characterized in that; identify an exact bale orientation of the bale (B) based at least partially on the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor . identify the exact bale orientation by initially identifying: a round surface and a flat surface for a round bale; or a first side and a second side which has a smaller cross-sectional area than the first side for a square bale; generate a steering control signal based at least partially on the exact bale location; and output the steering control signal to the steering assembly . a chassis ; a bale pick up carried by the chassis and configured to contact and pick up a bale (B); a steering assembly carried by the chassis and configured to steer the bale retriever ; at least one sensor carried by the chassis and configured to sense at least one bale feature of the bale (B) and provide at least one bale feature signal; and a controller operatively coupled to the steering assembly and the at least one sensor , the controller being configured to: receive bale drop location information; and receive the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor ; receive bale drop location information; and receive the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor ; the controller is further configured to: identify an exact bale location of the bale (B) based at least partially on the bale drop location information and the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor ; and characterized in that; identify an exact bale orientation of the bale (B) based at least partially on the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor . identify the exact bale orientation by initially identifying: a round surface and a flat surface for a round bale; or a first side and a second side which has a smaller cross-sectional area than the first side for a square bale; generate a steering control signal based at least partially on the exact bale location; and output the steering control signal to the steering assembly . identify an exact bale orientation of the bale (B) based at least partially on the at least one bale feature signal from the at least one sensor . identify the exact bale orientation by initially identifying: a round surface and a flat surface for a round bale; or a first side and a second side which has a smaller cross-sectional area than the first side for a square bale; a round surface and a flat surface for a round bale; or a first side and a second side which has a smaller cross-sectional area than the first side for a square bale; generate a steering control signal based at least partially on the exact bale location; and output the steering control signal to the steering assembly . <EOS>