There are too many lordships for too few players, so no, I don't feel we should expect very much from them. Especially since most don't care about food, and many propose its outright removal from the game. They still have infrastructure and region stats to care about, which no one is proposing to automate.
Region stats and infrastructure are automated for all intents and purposes. They are "one time" events.
Infrastructure: Most lordships have all needed infrastructure already in place. The exception is with newly taken regions in war. Which, under those circumstances, the build up of infrastructure is a one-time event, and is usually considered a "fun" part of being a lord. Therefore, Infrastructure = Perk (not responsibility)
Region Stats: These were suggested to be made easier. Thus, the new estate system was created. Region stats are now VERY easy to maintain. The only things that can drop them are based upon player actions at this point including: 1. Taxing your region too much (your fault), 2. Looting/takeover in war (your fault, stop losing your region to war), 3. Diplomat/Priest action (something which you can deal with). 4. Lack of Food (already being addressed in this thread) 5. Distance from capital (Also your fault. Either centralize your realm, or find a new realm with a closer capital if you don't want to deal with it, or lower your taxes: See 1)
So, Region stats are really not a problem.
In other words, Lordships are pretty much cake and all perks if you remove ALL responsibility inherent in the food system.