Esme dead slow, each time cutting half grassland tract (6)
I believe the answer is:
meadow
'grassland tract' is the definition.
(a meadow is a field of grass)
'esme dead slow each time cutting half' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'dead' could be 'd' (abbreviation in government records) and 'd' is found in the answer.
'each' could be 'ea' (abbreviation) and 'ea' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'mow' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for meadow that I've seen before include "Grassed field" , "In rural location" , "Pasture" , "Field used for hay" , "Hayfield" .)