A round baler, having a pair of spaced side walls mounted on a main frame, is supported on wheels and adapted to be pulled across a field. A crop confining apron is mounted between the side walls for defining an expandable chamber that is adapted to rotatably form a cylindrical package of crop material between the side walls. A pickup picks up crop material and conveys it into the chamber through a generally transverse crop infeed opening operatively associated with the pickup. A transverse starter roll extends between the side walls to provide the upper limit of the infeed opening. A crop severing device extends into the expandable chamber in the vicinity of the starter roll to cut crop material on the surface of the cylindrical package as it is being formed.