This is available right out of the gate, the catch is you need to fight the required materials and a workbench. Weed Whacker mod is great for clearing large swathes of plants from the ground.
The forum topic of the mod is here.
Credits: Noisy Pants
Weed Whacker
The download link is broken
You said “you need to fight the required materials”, but I think you meant to say “you need to find the required materials”. I base this on the fact that it would make no sense otherwise and I am not trying to be mean but figured you may want to know about the typo (I would if it were me).