Genesis 47:18-19

"And when that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide from my lord, how our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is naught left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: wherefore should we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land be not desolate."

This was phase three. It came evidently the very last year of the famine, as seems to be indicated by the request for seed. "The second year" is not a reference to the second year of the famine, but to the second year after the flocks and herds had been liquidated for bread. The next seven verses outline the consequences of what happened in these three phases.