Droughts in the central region of the United States, where most grains are produced, are growing to become a serious problem.

According to the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center, the land mass suffering from severe droughts in the state of Illinois expanded by 71 percent in just one week.

The size of land subject to severe droughts in the U.S. increased to 20 percent of the country’s territory this week from seven percent a week earlier.

The National Drought Mitigation Center says 63 percent of the U.S. territory is struggling from droughts, which is the largest since records were taken in 1999.