On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:18:22 GMT, (Doug Miller)
wrote:

In article , "Colbyt" wrote:
I bought 2 bales of straw at Lowes for a seeding project. Surprise the bale
was bound with baling wire and not string. I am 60 years old and never seen
baling wire used and I worked on the farms a lot as a youngster.

What type of modern combine uses wire? Is it a regional thing?

No type of combine uses wire. Combines harvest grain. Hay and straw are baled
with a baler.

Here in central Indiana, at least, it's pretty common to see wire-tied hay.
Don't think I've ever seen wire-tied straw, but then, we always bought our
straw from the same farm, and he had a string baler.

You'll probably get much more detailed answers over at misc.rural.
I would not go so far as to say no type of combine uses wire or
twine. I know of several combines fitted with balers on the straw
outlet that drop baled straw right out of the combine. They didn't
leave the factory that way, but have been operating in the fields that
way for quite a few years.