If you've been to mountains, how about wolf jerky instead of boar jerky? Also, honey is a sta food; you will find lots of cloudberries in the plains, which are better and cheap to eat. Keep a stack of heal and stamina potions on you, in your hotbar, just in case. Have bonemass defensive ability too.

Be quiet, keep your head on a swivel, especially looking out for the squitos. Range 'em down before they see you if you can. Collect their stingers and make very good arrows from them. You can easily kill a squito with a cheap wood arrow, but I use needle arrows on everything else in plains. I always keep a couple hundred on me. Circle around tar pits from a distance or avoid them altogether. Look for bones and listen for the oozy sounds for evidence of a tar pit.

I built a flax farming operation in the plains too, necessary for the padded armor. I built it starting from a fuling tower. It doesn't grow in meadows, so you will have some plains construction to do. I built mine from stone; seemed like the damage from critters in the plains would demolish wood.

I don't like staying out in plains at night. I explore during the day, and retreat to safer places at night. Explore from safer staging camps if you can.