Abstract: A bag slitting and emptying machine comprises a bag feed conveyor (1) including at least one rotatable element (29-32) drivable in a first, bag-feeding direction; a pair of co-operating, drivable bag slitting blades (2,3) so disposed with respect to the feed conveyor (1) that a bag (B) is conveyed by the feed conveyor (1) to and through a gap presented by displacement of the slitting blades (2, 3), so that, in use, a bag (B) is slit into an upper bag part (38) and a lower bag part (39), with the two parts (38, 39) connected together at a trailing end (37) of the bag (B); and a bag infeed nip (41) defined between a discharge end of the feed conveyor (1) and rotary means (40) rotatable in a direction opposite to that of the rotatable element (29-32) of the feed conveyor (1), and serving firstly to separate the upper bag part (38) from the lower bag part (39), to expose the bag contents, and secondly to drive the slit bag (B) downwardly from the discharge end of the feed conveyor (1).