The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education and The Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family and Consumer Sciences at the Vernon G. James Research & Extension Center in Plymouth is primarily responsible for providing innovative leadership and service to both public and private schools situated in 31 counties in Eastern North Carolina. These combined counties are known as the Eastern Region and are bordered on the west by Interstate I-95, on the north by Virginia, on the south by South Carolina, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. There are 97 middle school and high school agriculture teachers in this region who teach approximately 10,000 middle and high school students agricultural and FFA leadership career skills. The Eastern Region is subdivided into 2 agricultural education areas known as the Northeast Region and the Southeast Region. Benjie Forrest serves as the Eastern Region Agricultural Education Coordinator. He has written and published several news articles which describe the Eastern Region in more detail.

Northeast Region

The Northeast Region consists of 18 counties located in the extreme northeast corner of North Carolina. These counties are: Pitt; Beaufort; Hyde; Edgecombe; Martin; Washington; Tyrrell; Dare; Halifax; Bertie; Chowan; Perquimans; Pasquotank; Camden; Currituck; Northamton; Hertford; and Gates. There are 39 Northeast Region middle school and high school agriculture teachers and/or liaison in 35 middle school and high school departments who teach approximately 4,000 agriculture students. There is located within this region 1 private school,one charter school,one early college high school and one regional early college high school that provide FFA opportunities to students.

Southeast Region