Efficient management of your laborers is one of the most important abilities you can have, especially early on. You'll need a lot of these guys around for quite a while. Without a large crew of laborers, you won't get much done. But with a large crew, you'll have a large subsector of blue-collar workers to keep happy. Not only does it produce food for your people, but it provides an export as well as resources for refinement in your canneries, cigar factories and rum distilleries.
Some crops provide plenty of food while others make lots of money on the world market.
So it's good to have a variety of crops. And then there are the cattle and goats raised at the ranches, as well. Yes, you'll have plenty of these back-water agronomists running around, tilling the soiling, herding the calves, doing what they can to feed your people in one of the oldest and most respected professions around. The mathematical mind of the engineer is key in the efficient running of your electric power plants and airports. One of the educated class, she will have to be paid well.