וְהָרָעָ֖ב כָּבֵ֥ד בָּאָֽרֶץ׃
And the famine was sore in the land.
Radak on Genesis
והרעב, Yehudah said to his brothers not to argue with their aged father until there would be no more bread in the house at which time he would agree to send his son Binyamin with the brothers.